s 


(Jermanj 

x.  O/ 


ill 


<^^^        c 


What  is  the  German  Nation 
Dying  For? 


What  is  the  German  Nation 
Dying  For? 

By 

Karl  Liudwig  Krause 

Translated  from  the  German  by 
Adele  Szold  Seltzer 


New  York 

Boni  and  Liveright 
1918 


Copyright,  1918 
By  BONI  &  LIVERIGHT,  INC. 

All  Rights  Reserved 


PUBLISHER'S  PREFACE 

THE  greater  part  of  "What  is  the  German 
Nation  Dying  For?"  was  written  while  the  au- 
thor was  in  Germany,  and  some  of  the  chapters 
after  he  had  taken  refuge  in  Switzerland,  the 
whole  covering  a  period  from  as  early  as  1916 
to  a  recent  date. 

It  is  remarkable  with  what  clearness  of  vision 
and  confidence  Karl  Ludwig  Krause  foresaw  the 
final  outcome  of  the  war  as  events  are  now  shap- 
ing themselves.  Though  a  German  himself,  he 
maintained  from  the  very  start  that  a  complete 
military  defeat  of  his  own  country  was  needed 
for  the  good  of  the  world  and  of  the  German 
people  themselves,  whom  he  does  not  divorce 
from  their  government  in  responsibility  for  the 
war. 

He  says  that  the  Germans  lost  once  for  all  at 
the  1914  Battle  of  the  Marne  and  might  as  well 
have  admitted  defeat  then  and  there,  since  the 
world  would  never  permit  Germany's  triumph 
or  the  realization  of  her  war  aims,  which  he 
denounces  as  deadly  to  progress,  civilization 
and  humanity. 

5 


382819 


6  PUBLISHER'S  PREFACE 

The  entrance  of  America  into  the  war  filled 
Krause  with  intense  joy,  and  he  hailed  it  as  the 
fulfillment  of  his  prophecy  that  the  world  would 
not  allow  Prussian  militarism  to  triumph.  In  a 
manifesto  dated  Geneva,  June  28,  1918,  and  ap- 
pearing in  the  Freie  Zeitung  of  Berne,  Swit- 
zerland, which  he  signed  in  behalf  of  all  the  dem- 
ocratic elements  of  Germany  and  which  is  the 
latest  expression  we  have  from  him,  he  writes 
that  the  sole  responsibility  for  the  war  rests 
upon  the  autocratic  and  military  rulers  of  Ger- 
many and  Austria,  that  they  alone  are  answer- 
able for  the  prolongation  of  the  war,  that  a  re- 
public must  be  established  in  Germany,  and  that 
the  way  to  the  overthrow  of  kaiserism  can  be 
paved  only  by  a  complete  military  defeat  of 
Germany. 

The  manifesto  concludes  with  the  following: 
' '  Thanks  to  the  big-hearted,  unselfish  entry  of 
the  American  nation  into  the  war  .  .  .  and 
thanks  to  President  Wilson's  far-sighted  policy, 
dictated  by  the  most  humane  motives,  our  demo- 
cratic war  aims  for  Germany  will  be  achieved. 
And  if  all  signs  do  not  deceive,  the  military  de- 
feat is  nearer  than  seemed  possible  only  a  very 
short  time  ago." 


CONTENTS 


I.  WHY  I  WROTE  THIS  BOOK 

II.  MOBILIZATION 

III.  "Now  WE'LL  GIVE  'En  A  LICKING" 

IV.  MONARCHY  OR  DEMOCRACY?    . 
V.  GERMAN  BARBARIANS? 

VI.  HERR  HELFFERICH    .... 

VII.  HUNGER 

VIII.  ORGANIZATION 

IX.  THE  LUSITANIA        .... 

X.  THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAR 

XL  THE  OPTIMIST 

XII.  NATIONALISM 

XIII.  SECRET  DIPLOMACY  .... 

XIV.  "I  RECOGNIZE  No  PARTIES  ANY  MORE" 

XV.  PRUSSIA'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

XVI.  NATIONAL  HYSTERIA 

XVII.  LIBERTY 

XVilL  "Go  FOR  THE  ENEMY!"  . 

XIX.  ZABERN 

XX?  FLUNKEY  SOULS      .... 

XXL  THE  "GREAT  TIME" 

XXII.  WHY  THE  GERMANS  ARE  DISLIKED 

XXIII.  THE  BEST  JOKE  OF  THE  WAR 

XXIV.  "GOTT  STRAFE  ENGLAND!" 

7 


FACE 
11 

23 

28 

30 

40 

44 

50 

53 

58 

60 

82 

88 

97 

102 

105 

115 

119 

126 

133 

138 

141 

146 

158 

160 


8  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXV.  THE  GERMAN   SOCIAL  DEMOCRACY  AND 

THE  WAR 164 

XXVI.    VICTORY,  VICTORY  ! 176 

XXVII.      LlEBKNECHT 180 

XXVIII.  SWEEP  BEFORE  YOUR  OWN  DOOR    .       .  184 

XX^X.    THE  PAN-GERMANS 189 

XXX.    THE  CENSORSHIP 194 

XXXI.  PRUSSIAN  MILITARISM      ....  201 

XXXII.    ASININITIES 206 

XXXIII.  BLUFF! 210 

XXXIV.  QUELLE  BETISE 222 

XXXV.  CONCERNING  THE  PRUSSIAN  SPIRIT        ,  229 

XXXVI.  ENGLAND'S  STARVING-OUT  OF  GERMANY.  235 

XXXVII.    RACE  HATRED 240 

XXXVIII.  OF  THE  BIRD  THAT  FOULS  ITS  OWN  NEST.  245 

XXXIX.    THE  CRASH 250 

XL.  WERE  THE  PEACE  PROPOSALS  SINCERE?  ,  259 

XLI.  VON  BETHMANN-HOLLWEG      .        .        .  273 

XLII.  MUNCHNER  NEUESTE  NACHRICHTEN        .  277 

XLIII.  WHAT  Is  THE  OBSTACLE  TO  PEACE?        .  282 

XLIV.  THE  ASSASSINATION  IN  SERAJEVO  .       .  287 

XLV.    FORCING  PEACE 293 

XL VI.  THE  RECKONING  300 


What  is  the  German  Nation 
Dying  For? 


WHAT  IS  THE  GERMAN 
NATION  DYING  FOR? 


WHY  I  WROTE  THIS  BOOK 

AFTER  the  utter  consternation  of  the  first  days  of 
the  war  passed,  a  feeling  awoke  in  me  that  a  great 
wrong  had  been  committed. 

The  dogs  of  war  had  been  let  loose.  German 
armies  were  in  Belgium!  In  a  country  with  which 
Germany  had  had  no  differences  and  which  had  done 
Germany  no  harm.  I  could  not  share  in  the  general 
rejoicing  over  the  assault  on  Belgium  and  the  achieve- 
ments of  our  42-centimetre  guns.  It  seemed  to  me  a 
matter  of  course  that  Germany  should  be  able  to 
beat  down  a  small,  defenseless  nation  like  the  Belgian. 

The  German  government  was  forthcoming  with  ex- 
planations and  excuses;  but  these  only  served  to  ac- 
centuate my  feeling  that  a  very  great  wrong  had  been 
committed,  that  a  contract  solemnly  sworn  to  had 
been  violated,  that  the  honor  of  all  mankind  had 

11 


12     Wh-ir  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

been  besmirched  and  that  the  culture  of  the  twentieth 
century  had  been  trampled  in  the  dust. 

I  felt  myself  incapable  of  adopting  the  morality  of 
the  Prussian  government,  whereby  an  alleged  strate- 
gic necessity  justified  an  attack  upon  a  peaceful  peo- 
ple, the  massacre  of  so  many  innocent  men,  whose 
only  crime  was  self-defense,  and  the  destruction  of 
so  much  of  cultural  value  that  can  never  be  replaced. 

This  necessity-knows-no-law  morality  struck  me  as 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  robber  morality.  To  at- 
tack and  kill  a  man  simply  for  the  sake  of  the  more 
easily  breaking  into  your  neighbor's  house!  And  the 
thing  couldn't  be  made  right  by  declaring  that  the 
neighbor  had  intended,  later  on,  to  break  into  Ger- 
many. 

It  filled  me  with  profound  shame  and  also  with 
rage  and  indignation  that  this  crime  against  human- 
ity was  committed  not  by  any  state  you  please,  but 
by  the  government  of  a  highly  civilized  nation,  the 
government  of  my  own  country.  My  ancient  and 
only  too  well-founded  distrust  of  the  Prussian  sys- 
tem leapt  to  life  again,  and  it  was  this  distrust  of 
mine  that  kept  me  from  unquestionably  accepting  all 
the  speeches  and  programs  of  the  diplomats  and 
the  catchwords  that  the  "national"  press  tossed  out 
to  the  people.  On  the  contrary,  I  was  moved  to  test 


Why  I  Wrote  This  Book  13 

the  truth  of  it  all,  and  that  is  what  has  led,  as  it 
were  of  itself,  to  my  writing  down  these  rebellious 
ideas  of  mine. 

I  hope  I  am  right  in  assuming  that  there  are  many 
more  of  my  countrymen  than  is  commonly  supposed 
who  cherish  similar  ideas. 

There  is  scarcely  a  single  public  occasion  that  the 
chancellor  does  not  use  to  asseverate  in  deep  tones  of 
conviction,  with  a  positiveness  excluding  contradic- 
tion, that  the  whole  German  people  is  behind  him 
and  that  his  policy  is  the  policy  of  every  German. 
And  all  the  officers  of  the  realm  in  descending  or- 
der, in  their  "divinely"  ordained  dependence,  echo 
what  he  says  with  an  assiduity  that  cannot  but  arouse 
suspicion.  What  can  be  the  object  of  this  loud  trum- 
peting of  the  unity  of  all  Germans?  Is  it  to  throw 
dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  outside  world  and  of  the  Ger- 
mans themselves?  Or  is  it  narrow-mindedness,  self- 
deception  carried  to  an  inconceivable  degree — the  self- 
deception  of  which  we  have  witnessed  so  many  ex- 
amples in  the  course  of  the  war  ? 

But  if  it  really  is  the  chancellor's  genuine  belief 
that  he  has  the  whole  German  nation  behind  him, 
how  does  he  know  it?  Whence  does  he  derive  his 
knowledge  of  the  people's  absolute  unity  of  feeling 
after  he  has  nailed  their  mouths  shut  by  means  of  the 


14    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

censorship  and  martial  law  and  so  prevented  them 
from  expressing  their  true  opinions  ?  Does  he  get  his 
assurance  from  the  hysterical  shriekings  of  the  "fa- 
therland" press?  But  the  "fatherland"  press  is  the 
mouthpiece  of  certain  circles  of  men  who  profit  by 
the  war,  perhaps  also  of  those  who  still  think  they 
can  sleep  peacefully  because  a  Bethmann-Hollweg  or 
a  Hertling  is  keeping  watch  for  them.  The  "fa- 
therland" press  does  not  speak  for  the  people. 

No  and  no  and  no !  The  people  who  toil,  the  peo- 
ple who  do  without,  the  people  who  bleed  and  suffer 
sorely — they  are  not  behind  the  chancellor. 

But  they  are  not  to  open  their  mouths,  they  are  to 
keep  their  hearts  closed  like  a  grave  the  contents  of 
which  must  not  be  revealed — their  indignation,  their 
burning  wrath  against  these  forgerers,  these  liars, 
these  suppressors  of  the  truth. 

The  people  are  not  behind  the  chancellor  and  never 
were.  But  those  usurers  are,  those  war-promoters, 
those  big  landed  Junkers,  and  large  shareholders, 
whose  easily  acquired  millions  drop  into  their  laps 
like  ripe  plums,  the  whole  military  caste,  which  can 
now  realize  its  dream  of  wading  knee-deep  in  blood 
and  destroying  and  annihilating  to  its  heart's  con- 
tent. That  feudal  caste  which  needs  war  so  as  to 
reap  in  abundance  where  others  have  sowed. 


Why  I  Wrote  This  Book  15 

All  such  as  these  stand  behind  the  chancellor. 
Such  alone  are  Bethmann-Hollweg's  and  Hertling's 
" people."  They  are  the  only  ones  who  can  and  may 
speak.  It  is  their  voice  alone  that  the  chancellors 
hear,  and  what  they  lack  in  numbers  is  compensated 
for  in  insistent  patriotic  din  and  solemn  adjurations 
to  "hold  out/' 

They,  of  course,  can  hold  out,  even  though  the 
war  last  another  ten  years. 

They  are  the  men  who  keep  fanning  the  flames  of 
the  world  conflagration,  once  it  was  set  afire  by  a 
handful  of  insatiable  creatures,  to  boil  their  soup  on. 
Caesar-madness  it  was,  coupled  with  sinister  blood- 
thirstiness  and  the  persecution  mania  of  Prussian 
militarism,  which  did  not  hesitate  to  convert  Europe 
into  a  charnel-house  when  it  deemed  the  time  ripe  for 
its  plans. 

What  difference  do  the  millions  make  who  are 
weltering  in  blood?  What  difference  all  the  cripples 
and  blind  men?  What  do  the  militarists  care  for 
the  hundreds  of  thousands  who  must  see  their  mod- 
est existence  fall  into  ruins?  How  many  of  them 
had  labored  for  years  so  as  to  be  free  of  want  in  their 
old  age!  Everything  they  worked  for  devoured  by 
the  war,  gone  forever.  The  imprecations  and  curses 


16     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

of  all  these  unfortunates,  the  hatred  of  millions  of 
men,  must  descend  upon  the  war  monsters. 

What  cynicism,  in  view  of  the  undeniable  fact  that 
it  was  the  German  government  that  declared  war  and 
instantly  proceeded  to  attack — what  cynicism  to  keep 
insisting  obstinately  upon  the  fiction  that  the  father- 
land was  attacked.  Even  King  Ludwig  of  Bavaria 
was  obliged  to  say  in  public  in  Munich — of  course, 
by  orders  from  Berlin — that  war  had  been  declared 
against  Germany.  They  constantly  keep  dishing  up 
the  stale  lie  that  we  were  attacked,  and  it  was  only 
through  the  quick  action,  the  foresightedness  and  the 
boundless  wisdom  of  the  government  that  we  were 
saved  from  the  annihilation  to  which  our  enemies 
had  doomed  us. 

So  they  forever  din  into  the  people 's  ears  how  inno- 
cent of  the  war  our  government  is  and  how  thankful 
the  people  should  be  to  their  leaders  that  "the  enemy 
is  not  in  our  country."  This  is  constantly  being  used 
to  extort  ever  larger  sacrifices  of  blood  and  money; 
and  afterward  it  is  said  hypocritically :  ' '  The  people 
are  making  all  these  sacrifices  quite  voluntarily  from 
sheer  patriotism." 

The  old  familiar  things  are  all  the  time  being 
trumped  upon  us,  France's  revanche,  England's  envy, 
and  Russia's  mobilization,  so  as  to  conceal  the  Ger- 


Why  I  Wrote  This  Book  17 

man  government's  own  guilt  and  spur  on  the  poor 
weary  people  when  they  are  about  to  drop  to  the 
ground  from  exhaustion. 

Disgust  must  fill  every  one  who  saw  through  these 
catchwords  from  the  very  first,  before  the  war,  when 
they  necessarily  constituted  the  threadbare  pretext 
for  a  mad  speeding  up  of  armaments.  Who  can  won- 
der that  finally  they  also  had  to  be  held  up  as  the 
pretext  for  attacking  Europe? 

In  truth,  there  is  no  greater  crime  in  the  history  of 
the  world  than  these  cold-blooded  preparations  and 
this  attack. 

And  the  chancellor  maintains  that  all  the  people  are 
following  him  along  this  path  of  blood  and  guilt.  It 
isn't  true!  It's  a  lie! 

And  even  though  it  were  true  and  all  the  people 
were  following  him,  I  am  not  following  him.  I  can- 
not. I  can  no  more  declare  myself  in  accord  with 
the  Prussian  government  in  its  assault  upon  civiliza- 
tion and  culture  than  I  could  declare  myself  in  ac- 
cord with  my  brother  if  he  committed  a  crime. 

And  I  must  speak  out  openly,  in  spite  of  the  cer- 
tainty that  cowardly  revenge  will  be  wreaked  upon 
me.  I  must  speak  out,  or  else  choke  with  repugnance 
disgust. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  said  that  the  other  governments 


1 8     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

are  not  innocent  either  and  it  is  not  fair  to  look  for 
the  blame  all  on  one  side.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
do  so. 

But  I  may  quietly  leave  it  to  the  members  of  the 
enemy  nations  to  allot  the  portion  of  blame  falling 
upon  their  own  governments,  especially  since  there  are 
thousands  of  Germans  to  help  them  and  violent  efforts 
are  made  in  our  country  to  impute  all  the  blame  to 
the  enemy  governments. 

For  that  reason  I  must  be  permitted  to  fix  the 
blame  where  I  see  it  belongs. 

Because  it  is  impossible,  and  will  remain  impossible, 
to  forget  that  it  was  not  the  other  nations  that  de- 
clared war  upon  us,  but  we  who  declared  war  upon 
them;  that  it  was  not  Belgium  which  fell  upon  us, 
but  we  who  fell  upon  Belgium.  This  clinching  fact 
will  not  be  overlooked  by  any  one  earnestly  seeking 
the  truth. 

So  how  could  I,  just  at  the  very  moment  when 
Prussian  Caesarism  was  carrying  out  its  long  pre- 
meditated attack,  go  over  to  the  side  of  that  infa- 
mous system  which  oppresses  all  true  liberty,  all 
human  progress  (in  the  higher  sense)  ;  which  has 
turned  the  world  into  a  madhouse,  where  one  nation 
always  sees  itself  persecuted  and  threatened  and 
hemmed  in  by  the  other  nations;  which  has  made  an 


Why  I  Wrote  This  Book  19 

arsenal  of  Germany  and  the  whole  of  Europe?  How 
could  I  go  over  to  the  side  of  such  a  system  when  I 
had  always  yearned  out  of  the  depths  of  my  heart  for 
an  end  to  this  barbarism,  for  the  liberation  of  my 
people  from  this  degrading  Csesarism,  for  its  rise  to 
the  ranks  of  the  free  nations  of  the  world  ? 

No,  there  is  no  other  position  to  take  in  this  deci- 
sive conflict  between  arbitrary  despotism  and  the 
people's  right  to  self-determination,  between  the  po- 
lice club,  oppression,  force  and  injustice,  on  the  one 
side,  and  liberty,  justice  and  humanity  on  the  other 
side. 

Now,  when  Prussianism  is  making  ready  to  impose 
its  yoke  upon  other,  free  nations,  and  militarism, 
that  ulcer  on  mankind's  body,  has  broken  open  and 
is  threatening  to  destroy  all  life  with  its  foul  cor- 
ruption, there  is  no  other  position,  I  say,  to  take. 

No  other  government  in  Europe  than  Prussia,  no 
other  government  even  in  our  Prussianized  Germany, 
could  have  got  itself  to  begin  such  a  slaughter  of  the 
nations.  No  other  government  could  have  sicked  Aus- 
tria on.  This  government  of  a  nation  of  " subjects," 
of  whose  dull  obedience  it  was  certain,  was  the  only 
one  that  dared  to  discard  all  responsibility  to  its  own 
people  and  to  humanity  at  large.  Nowhere  but  in 
Berlin  could  the  overture  be  played  to  the  nocturne 


2O     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

that  has  been  piercing  the  world's  ears  for  nearly 
half  a  decade.  There  in  Berlin  stood  the  leader  of 
the  orchestra  beating  time,  the  "supreme  war-lord." 

If  he  had  not  wanted  the  war  (he  keeps  saying  he 
hadn't  wanted  it),  we  should  not  be  having  war, 
despite  a  hundred  Servias  and  Austrias. 

The  Bavarian  people,  and  even  the  Bavarian  gov- 
ernment, have  nothing  in  their  being  to  do  with  the 
war.  Can  you  conceive  of  a  declaration  of  war  pro- 
ceeding from  Munich  ?  The  civilization  of  the  Bavar- 
ian nation,  by  several  centuries  older  than  the  Prus- 
sian, would  have  made  such  a  hideous  thing  impossible. 
But  the  Bavarians  could  not  help  themselves.  They 
had  to  submit  to  the  disgrace  and  serve  as  accom- 
plices (our  lists  of  losses  are  eloquent),  against  their 
will,  of  course,  but  true  to  obligations  undertaken, 
not  by  the  people  who  are  bleeding  to  death — that's 
the  tragedy  of  it — but  by  others  who  assumed  the 
obligations  for  them. 

This  is  a  fact  not  to  be  altered  by  any  of  the  winged 
words  of  Ludwig  III,  who,  after  all,  is  thinking  of 
his  crown,  nor  by  any  of  the  agitating,  fire-spitting 
and  distorting  of  the  truth  done  by  the  "fatherland" 
press  of  Munich. 

The  Bavarian  people  know  nothing  of  the  blood- 


Why  I  Wrote  This  Book  21 

thirstiness  of  their  newspapers.  They  are  an  inno- 
cent race,  ready  to  live  and  let  live. 

The  spirit  of  that  big-mouthed  "  fatherland " 
boastfulness  rampant  in  their  press  is  essentially  for- 
eign to  them.  It  is  an  importation  from  Berlin. 

And  it  is  distressing  to  think  that  perhaps  the 
Bavarians  are  judged  by  their  press  and  that  the 
outside  world  may  believe  the  Bavarians  to  be  quite 
in  accord  with  this  crime  against  humanity,  even 
happy  over  it.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the 
truth.  But  the  ten  years  of  activity  of  a  Munchner 
Neueste  Nachrichten  have  not  been  in  vain.  This 
newspaper  has  been  able  to  muddle  our  people 's  sound 
judgment  at  least  to  such  an  extent  that  they  do  not 
venture  openly  to  tear  off  the  mask  from  the  falsifiers 
of  public  opinion. 

The  reader  of  this  book  will  not  find  polished  dip- 
lomatic expressions,  but  frank,  sharp-edged  words  and 
"prohibited"  ideas.  Many  people  will  be  astonished 
at  this  from  a  German,  and  some,  outraged. 

It  actually  seems  impossible  to  conceive  of  a  Ger- 
man in  any  other  way  than  standing  stiff  and 
straight,  his  hands  at  his  trousers'  seams,  his  mouth 
open,  and  his  eyes  turned  upward  to  "the  precipi- 
tous height  on  which  princes  are  perched." 

If  he  doesn't  do  this,  but  merely  says  what  every 


22    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

man  in  every  free  country  has  the  right  to  say,  his 
superiors  admonish  him.  "Be  quiet.  Don't  make 
a  noise.  Don't  you  see,  you  naughty  boy,  that  your 
papa  is  husy  this  very  moment  thrashing  some  for- 
eign boys  who  have  been  annoying  him !  Do  you  want 
to  annoy  him,  too?" 

Yes,  the  reader  will  find  something  in  this  book 
very  different  from  what  he  sees  in  the  "fatherland" 
press.  But  whom  would  it  surprise  in  a  time  when 
every  day,  every  hour,  the  passions  are  lashed  into  a 
storm  because  militarism  must  have  it  so  for  its  bloody 
business?  It  is  nothing  but  a  natural  reaction  if  at 
last  the  opposite  is  reached  and  defense  becomes  the 
same  as  attack.  And  all  the  more  so  when  one  portion 
of  the  people  arrogates  all  rights  to  itself  and  chokes 
and  stifles  everything  not  in  its  own  spirit.  It  is  a 
procedure  absolutely  unworthy  of  a  civilized  nation. 
It  has  created  an  atmosphere  of  embitterment  that 
defies  description. 

The  German  people  see  themselves  condemned  to 
helplessness  and  impotence  through  a  refined  system 
of  outrageous  slavery.  But  the  very  extreme  of  the 
tension  proves  that  the  limit  must  soon  be  reached 
and  that  the  moment  of  explosion  is  not  very  far  off. 


II 

MOBILIZATION 

IT  was  on  a  Monday.  We  were  going  into  town 
early  in  the  morning  as  on  every  ordinary  work  day. 
But  this  Monday  was  very  different  from  its  predeces- 
sors. We  had  always  returned  to  work  in  the  happy 
holiday  mood  left  by  a  long  summer  day  spent  in  the 
open  air  and  sunlight  beside  the  lake,  cares  left  be- 
hind, in  unrestrained  freedom.  We  had  met  friends, 
and  passed  the  time  conversing  and  discussing  the 
thousand  innocent  occurrences  of  a  safe,  peaceful  ex- 
istence. 

But  this  Monday,  as  I  said,  it  was  all  so  different. 
The  delightful  yesterday  was  forgotten.  At  the  place 
that  we  had  spent  the  Sunday,  fortunately,  the  order 
for  mobilization  had  not  been  made  known  till  the 
evening.  And  then  many  a  one  of  us  had  passed  the 
night  without  sleeping,  in  heavy  thought. 

There  was  a  peculiarly  oppressive  atmosphere  hang- 
ing over  the  crowded  boat,  a  most  unusual  mood; 
excited,  though  whispered  conversation  on  all  sides. 
'  *  They  began  to  mobilize  yesterday.  Now  we  're  in  for 


24     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

it  in  bloody  earnest.  Who  would  ever  have  dreamt 
of  anything  of  the  sort?" 

Was  there  a  single  mind  that  on  this  Monday  could 
fully  grasp  the  whole  tragedy  implied  in  the  single 
word,  mobilization? 

A  friend  of  mine  was  going  back  to  town  with  his 
son,  a  student  at  the  university.  The  lad  seemed  to 
be  nervous  and  excited.  I  could  clearly  tell  he  was 
all  upset  when  I  spoke  to  him.  He  thought  he  would 
be  called  to  arms  immediately.  Until  then  he  had 
lived  only  for  his  studies. 

No  person  knew  just  what  was  coming,  just  what 
was  going  to  happen  in  his  own  life.  There  were  a 
number  of  other  young  people  on  the  ship,  all  of  them 
very  quiet,  as  though  benumbed.  Nobody  had  eyes 
for  the  shimmering  lake  and  the  mountains  rising 
majestically  in  the  blue  air.  The  scenery  found  no 
admirers  that  Monday. 

In  H the  trains  that  met  the  boat  left  very 

late.  Most  of  them  did  not  run  at  all,  since  another 
schedule,  for  which  the  needs  of  travelers  no  longer 
existed,  had  been  adopted  overnight. 

At  the  railway  station  in  Munich  there  was  in- 
describable confusion,  and  all  sorts  of  luggage  piled 
mountain  high.  A  puzzle  how  it  had  accumulated  so 
quickly.  Men  shoving  and  pushing,  calling,  question- 


Mobilization  25 

ing,  hunting  about.  Some  soldiers  among  them,  too, 
already.  A  disturbed  ant-hill  is  as  orderly  as  a  pa- 
rade compared  with  that  scene  in  the  Munich  railway 
station.  Before  you  got  outside  you  felt  sick  and 
dizzy. 

The  streets  were  not  so  changed  as  one  would  have 
supposed  from  the  scenes  in  the  station.  Every- 
body was  going  about  his  business,  except  that  here 
and  there  you  saw  small  groups  studying  fresh 
posters. 

"Mobilization,"  "The  Country  Declared  in  a  State 
of  Siege,"  "All  Power  Transferred  to  the  Military." 

It  was  impossible  to  grasp  all  at  once  the  full  im- 
port of  those  pregnant  words.  It  came  to  you  only 
slowly.  What  did  the  great  black  letters  mean? 
Why,  apparently,  that  overnight  law  and  justice 
had  been  removed  and  neither  existed  any  more — 
simply  existed  no  more. 

One  stroke  of  the  pen  had  wiped  away  without 
leaving  a  trace  the  little  bit  of  respect  for  human 
rights  that  the  people  had  wrested  from  the  despots 
through  years  and  years  of  unceasing  struggle.  One 
move  of  a  hand  had  destroyed  that  for  which  many 
a  noble  soul  had  given  up  his  life,  for  which  many 
a  martyr  had  sacrificed  his  health  and  happiness  be- 
hind prison  walls. 


26     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

So  now  there  no  longer  ruled  those  authorities 
whom  the  people  had  helped,  though  in  all  too  mod- 
est a  degree,  to  create;  not  ideal  authorities,  to  be 
sure,  yet  the  people  knew  them  at  least  and  felt  at 
home  with  them.  They  were  dead  and  gone. 

The  thing  that  was  now  to  rule  the  people  was 
militarism,  militarism  in  absolute  control.  So  much 
was  clear  from  the  hard  vicious  words  on  the  posters. 
Militarism!  No  one  to  be  responsible  but  the  man 
responsible  to  none,  the  supreme  war-lord. 

Enthroned  in  secret,  in  inapproachable  obscurity, 
militarism  suddenly  held  absolute  sway.  It  was  only 
by  an  act  of  grace  that  it  did  not  order  the  people 
instantly  to  go  down  on  all  fours  and  eat  the  dirt 
of  the  streets. 

It  disposed  of  the  human  race  and  human  destinies, 
of  everything  accomplished  by  humanity,  as  a  bad 
child  disposes  of  its  toys — to  break  and  ruin  and  de- 
stroy. 

From  that  day  on,  therefore,  there  was  neither  law 
nor  justice  but  only  cruel  force,  cruel  coercion,  bloody 
brutality  reduced  to  a  system. 

It  was  too  much.  It  was  like  a  blow  in  the  face. 
It  fairly  stunned  one.  A  horrid  feeling  of  unrest 
and  anxiety,  of  being  lost,  overpowered  me.  I  was 


Mobilization  27 

bent  to  the  ground  by  a  melancholy  I  had  never  before 
felt. 

The  gentle  language  of  civilization  and  humanity, 
the  only  language  dear  and  familiar  to  us  from  child- 
hood, all  of  a  sudden  was  no  longer  spoken  or  under- 
stood. This  language,  which  growing  intercourse 
among  the  nations  had  spread  throughout  the  world, 
must  at  one  blow  yield  to  the  coarse  cries,  the  harsh 
commands  of  the  drill  ground.  The  speech  that  was 
now  to  be  understood  was  the  speech  of  undisguised 
rude  brutality. 

Who  would  ever  have  said  to  himself  seriously  that 
there  still  was  such  a  language  of  violence  and  that 
we  should  ever  have  to  listen  to  it?  We  had  lulled 
ourselves  in  the  delicious  hope  that  such  barbarism 
was  no  more  to  be  experienced  in  the  heart  of  Europe. 
A  delusion ! 

A  strident  voice  out  of  the  dark,  never  asking 
whether  the  people  wanted  it  or  not,  gave  orders  to 
them  to  sacrifice  their  lives,  their  aspirations,  their 
happiness.  The  people  had  no  time  to  reflect.  The 
strident  voice  simply  gave  orders,  threatening  the 
most  awful  punishment  for  disobedience.  There  was 
only  one  alternative,  obedience  or  death.  For  the 
country  had  been  mobilized. 


Ill 

1  'NOW  WE'LL  GIVE  'EM  A  LICKING" 

THIS  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  the  utterances 
of  our  ' '  peace ' '  Kaiser.  It  provides  an  excellent  view 
into  the  inner  being  of  this  delicate-souled  monarch, 
scarcely  equaled  by  any  other  of  the  many  "sayings" 
that  he  has  pronounced  in  the  course  of  his  reign. 

What  a  lofty  tone,  what  poetic  beauty,  what  ele- 
gance of  diction!  And  so  simple  withal,  with  such  a 
popular  ring  to  it.  "Now  we'll  give  'em  a  licking." 
This  battle-cry  of  His  Majesty  William  II  sounds  like 
a  mighty  sigh  of  relief  after  too  long,  much,  much  too 
long,  a  period  of  foolish  peace.  The  ' '  prince  of  peace ' ' 
had  had  to  wait  longer  than  he  cared  to  for  the  "joy- 
ous war." 

The  valiant  German  hero  and  professor,  Von 
Calker,  took  up  this  battle-cry  with  profound  rever- 
ence directly  from  the  mouth  of  the  supreme  war- 
lord, so  as  to  shout  it  forthwith  into  the  German  news- 
paper world,  where  it  produced  an  immense  amount 
of  enthusiasm.  And  the  press  for  its  part  did  not  fail 
to  prove  its  worthiness  to  share  in  its  lord's  spiritual 

28 


"Now  We'll  Give  'Em  a  Licking"     29 

flight.  It  took  up  the  battle-cry  exultingly.  It  was 
ready  to  help  ''give  'em  a  licking. "  It  immediately 
adopted  the  elegant  cry  as  its  own,  for  in  a  matter  of 
good  taste  it  did  not  want  to  lag  behind  any  one, 
not  even  behind  the  Kaiser. 

So  now  he  has  been  giving  them  a  licking  for  these 
many  years.  To  be  sure  he  expected  to  be  done  with 
the  job  in  three  months.  "By  the  time  the  leaves 
fall  we'll  be  back  home  victorious,"  he  had  pro- 
phesied. 

Alas  and  alack,  his  prophetic  gift  is  no  better  than 
his  taste.  The  "licking"  has  not  come  to  an  end  yet, 
and  the  hides  of  the  licked  are  turning  out  to  be  far 
thicker  and  more  durable  than  the  imperial  licker 
ever  had  any  idea  of.  Perhaps  in  the  end  the  others 
will  not  only  be  presenting  their  backs  for  a  licking, 
but  will  also  be  doing  some  licking  on  their  own  ac- 
count. That  would  be  awkward  and  not  according  to 
program — but  quite  comprehensible. 


IV 
MONARCHY  OR  DEMOCRACY? 

THE  apparently  inevitable  course  of  political  af- 
fairs in  Europe,  culminating  suddenly  in  the  out- 
break of  the  war,  makes  every  thinking  man  question 
whether  a  similar  development  could  have  taken  place 
had  a  democracy  instead  of  a  monarchy  held  sway  in 
Germany. 

I  for  my  part  cannot  do  the  German  government 
the  favor  to  seek  the  causes  of  the  war  in  all  sorts 
of  mystical  or  cosmic  or  even  economic  grounds,  as 
do  so  many  people,  and  as  must  be  very  agreeable  to 
the  government;  though  what  is  still  more  agreeable 
to  the  government  is  not  to  bother  about  such  mat- 
ters at  all,  but  simply  take  it  on  faith  that  the  enemy 
attacked  us  and  wanted  to  crush  the  German  nation. 

What  is  the  main  tendency  innate  in  the  monar- 
chy? Undoubtedly,  its  first  and  foremost  endeavor 
is  the  same  as  that  which  governs  every  living  thing, 
self-preservation;  but  self-preservation  in  all  cir- 
cumstances and  by  all  means. 

A  superficial  examination  of  the  way  the  monarchy 
30 


Monarchy  or  Democracy  31 

and  the  people  have  been  living  side  by  side  in  Ger- 
many within  recent  years  might  make  it  appear  that 
the  "  self-preservation "  of  the  monarchy  was  a  per- 
fectly easy  matter,  since  the  German  is  "monarchic 
to  the  very  marrow  of  his  bones."  In  reality  it  was 
not  so  easy.  The  nature  of  the  Prussian  monarchy  is 
such  that  it  is  built  up  on  entirely  different  founda- 
tions, economic,  legal,  and  above  all  cultural,  from 
those  which  are  commensurate  with  the  needs  of  a 
modern  civilized  nation,  a  nation  that  has  fully  eman- 
cipated itself  from  the  patriarchal  Haroun-al-Raschid 
sort  of  rule  possible  in  small  countries. 

It  had  long  been  out  of  the  question  for  the  mon- 
arch as  the  father  of  his  people  to  acquaint  himself 
with  the  personal  needs  of  each  of  his  subjects  and 
so  look  out  for  their  individual  welfare.  The  people, 
therefore,  had  to  take  their  affairs  into  their  own 
hands. 

In  consequence,  rights  came  to  them  that  the  king 
and  lawgiver  had  formerly  arrogated  to  himself,  as 
a  result  of  which  even  the  German  monarchy  is  a 
limited  one.  The  people 's  deputies  have  deprived  the 
monarch  of  broad  provinces  of  governmental  activity, 
leaving  him  only  a  few  without  restriction. 

Unfortunately,  however,  these  few  are  the  most 
important  and  decisive,  as  the  negotiations  immedi- 


32     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

ately  preceding  the  declaration  of  war  show.  The 
Kaiser  has  unlimited  dictatorship  over  the  entire 
military  power  of  the  state  and  also  the  unlimited 
direction  of  the  foreign  policy;  which  means  that 
he  has  sole  control  over  the  relations  of  the  entire 
German  nation  with  all  other  nations. 

This  is  typical  of  the  position  arrogated  to  itself 
by  the  Prussian  monarchy  in  the  German  state,  and 
is  in  striking  contrast  with  the  situation  in  all  the 
other  great  civilized  nations. 

The  monarchy  may  regulate  the  relations  of  the 
German  nation  with  neighboring  nations  entirely  ac- 
cording to  its  own  sweet  will.  Nobody  has  the  right 
to  say  a  word.  And  it  is  so  plain  to  the  view  that 
the  monarchy  will  attend  to  the  business  of  foreign 
relations  with  primary  regard  for  its  own  self-preser- 
vation and  with  only  secondary  regard  for  the  people 's 
welfare  that  no  proof  is  necessary.  To  be  concerned 
with  one's  own  self-preservation  is  merely  human. 
Besides,  even  we  Germans  have  ministers  who  are  re- 
sponsible to  the  people,  oh,  yes,  we  have — but  don't 
let's  speak  about  it. 

At  present  the  monarchy  is  above  everything  else 
" national,"  the  very  highest  expression,  the  focus 
of  nationalism. 

In  the  present  status  of  civilization  inonarchism  and 


Monarchy  or  Democracy  33 

internationalism  are  mutually  exclusive.  Monarch- 
ism  has  the  most  urgent  interest  to-day  in  its  own  na- 
tion's believing  that  all  the  other,  especially,  of 
course,  the  democratic  nations  are  its  natural  and 
jealous  enemies.  The  more  the  monarchical  nation 
hates  and  despises  the  democracies,  the  better  for  au- 
tocracy. Because  autocracy  has  learned  from  his- 
tory that  internationalistic  monarchies  have  proved 
to  possess  little  lasting  quality.  Besides,  internation- 
alistic monarchies  are  impossible  now,  since  no  auto- 
crat would  like  to  be  below  another  autocrat,  but  the 
highest  of  autocrats,  and  each  doubtless  thinks  himself 
best  fitted  to  be  the  highest. 

So,  for  the  sake  of  the  autocrat 's  mere  security,  the 
people  must  be  kept  as  remote  from  internationalism 
as  possible.  If  their  fellow-creatures  speak  a  differ- 
ent language,  they  must  in  no  circumstances  look 
upon  them  as  brothers,  but  as  enemies. 

Everything  in  Germany  is  pressed  into  service  for 
this  one  purpose,  the  school,  the  newspapers,  and  all 
institutions  that  are  in  any  way  suitable.  Later 
times  mayhap  will  reveal  the  full  extent  to  which  this 
influencing  of  the  people's  minds  is  carried  on.  We 
cannot  tell  now  because  those  who  are  in  the  commis- 
sion of  the  monarchy  and  derive  profit  from  it  pursue 


34     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

this  business  with  a  cunning  and  a  perverse  refine- 
ment that  are  not  easy  to  conceive. 

These  ardent  endeavors  in  the  interest  of  the  mon- 
archy find  support  in  a  peculiarly  servile  trait  in  the 
German  character.  A  German  is  impressed  by  arro- 
gance provided  it  is  sufficiently  brazen. 

A  German  would  rather  obey  than  think  for  him 
self  and  shoulder  responsibility. 

It  was  this  blind  faith  in  authority  that  made  it 
possible  for  the  German  nation  to  be  caught  up  sud- 
denly in  a  war  of  which  it  had  not  dreamed  a  week 
before. 

The  king  of  Bulgaria  would  not  dare  to  put  upon 
his  half-civilized  people  what  the  Kaiser  puts  upon 
us.  The  Bulgarian  government  had  to  work  over  its 
people  with  dozens  of  manifestoes  before  they  could 
be  got  to  enter  the  war  and  sacrifice  themselves  for 
their  dynasty,  that  is,  for  Ferdinand,  who  believed 
he  could  best  secure  his  throne  by  joining  with  the 
Central  Powers  and  Turkey.  Whether  or  not  he  spec- 
ulated correctly,  time  will  show. 

Germany  of  all  the  countries  of  the  world  is  still 
blessed  with  such  an  abundance  of  kings,  princes  and 
grand-dukes  that  we  could  easily  supply  the  rest  of 
the  world  without  feeling  the  loss.  And  each  of 


Monarchy  or  Democracy  35 

these  rulers  by  "divine  right"  is  filled  with  the  ambi- 
tion to  prove  his  indispensability. 

Then  why  wonder  if  their  leader  in  particular 
wanted  to  make  his  power  felt  in  every  place  in  the 
world  where  something  was  going  on  and  if  he  tried 
to  pursue  a  policy  of  guardianship  over  other  na- 
tions? However,  his  actual  ability  in  this  direction 
was  very  moderate,  and  so  nothing  came  of  it  all 
except  a  constant  pestering  and  threatening  of  the 
world. 

Thus  it  is  in  the  special  department  of  the  Prussian 
monarchy,  that  is,  the  foreign  policy,  that  the  whole 
ominous  wrong  of  the  absolutistic  system  came  out — 
the  wrong  of  a  single  man,  responsible  to  no  one, 
having  absolute  control  of  a  prodigious  apparatus 
ready,  when  he  touches  the  button,  to  let  loose  death 
and  destruction  upon  the  whole  world;  a  man  by 
birth  and  education  removed  an  infinite  distance  from 
the  cares  and  needs  of  his  people  and  without  the 
least  comprehension  for  them,  inspired  by  the  one 
desire  to  maintain  his  house  and  uphold  its  glory 
for  all  time. 

Oh,  the  many  things  that  venal  satellites  found  to 
praise  in  the  monarchy!  The  monarchy  alone  guar- 
anteed the  nation's  steady  development;  the  mon- 


36     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

archy  alone  was  the  cause  of  the  country's  "tremen- 
dous economic  advance." 

And,  by  way  of  contrast,  the  awful  conditions  pre- 
vailing in  democratic  lands  were  held  up  to  the  Ger- 
mans— their  political  corruption  and  their  economic 
decline,  or  economic  stagnation,  at  least. 

There  was  no  need  to  adduce  proofs.  It  sufficed  to 
repeat  these  things  often  enough.  The  German  pub- 
lic was  already  convinced.  No  one  thought  anything 
but  that  our  neighbors  were  going  downhill.  And 
not  even  this  war  will  give  the  Germans  a  much  bet- 
ter insight  into  the  true  state  of  affairs,  although  it 
very  well  could  do  so. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  economic  progress  is  not  con- 
fined to  one  country,  but  is  common  to  all  and  pro- 
portionate to  the  degree  of  civilization  in  each.  And 
as  for  the  economic  development  of  Germany,  I  main- 
tain that  it  has  taken  place  not  on  account  of  but 
in  spite  of  the  monarchical  form  of  government. 

What  could  we  Germans  not  have  achieved  had  all 
the  brains  that  were  obliged  to  devise  instruments  of 
murder  and  destruction  in  the  service  of  the  mon- 
archy been  able  to  devote  their  strength  and  inven- 
tiveness to  useful  instruments  for  the  improvement 
of  human  conditions?  The  blessings  that  might  have 
accrued  are  incalculable. 


Monarchy  or  Democracy  37 

Whole  classes  of  the  population  in  Germany,  like 
the  government  officials,  are  completely  in  the  thrall 
of  the  monarchy,  which  is  falsely  represented  to  them 
as  the  means  of  their  livelihood. 

They  all  want  to  be  '  *  kb'niglich '  '*  and  never  bethink 
themselves  that  what  makes  it  possible  for  them  to 
draw  salaries  from  the  government  are  the  taxes  that 
the  people  pay.  The  people,  therefore,  not  the  gov- 
ernment, are  really  their  employer.  And  to  keep 
them  anchored  fast  to  the  monarchy  they  are  told 
that  they  would  not  find  positions  in  a  democracy,  as 
though  there  were  no  government  employees  in  the 
United  States,  or  France,  or  Switzerland.  But 
enough  ignoramuses  are  found  to  believe  this  non- 
sense. It  would  be  a  sad  thing  for  officialdom  if  it 
were  as  superfluous  as  the  monarchy.  I  wonder  if 
we  shall  be  able  to  get  along  without  government  em- 
ployees as  soon  as  the  king  has  disappeared. 

Of  course,  there  will  be  some  officials  that  we  shall 
then  be  able  to  dispense  with — the  haughty  bureau- 
crats, for  one  thing,  who  think  the  people  cannot 
walk  without  their  holding  on  to  the  leading-strings 
and  who  lay  down  a  hundred  thousand  rules  for  the 
way  in  which,  according  to  their  whim,  the  life  of 
each  "subordinate"  has  to  be  molded.  These  petty, 

*  Loyal  to  the  Kaiser. 


38     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

mean-spirited  bureaucrats,  these  agents  of  autocracy, 
will  certainly  disappear.  Of  that  we  may  be  sure. 

The  German  people  must  be  set  free  from  this  un- 
worthy guardianship  as  much  as  from  monarchism 
itself,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  before  the  war  is 
over  they  will  have  swept  the  moldy  bureaucracy 
away  like  everything  else  that  is  rotten  and  anti- 
quated and  a  disgrace  to  a  civilized  nation. 

And  if,  actually,  the  great  German  nation  cannot 
succeed  in  making  itself  master  in  its  own  house,  it 
will  find  brothers  and  friends  to  help.  Yes,  it  al- 
ready has  found  them. 

The  government  tries  to  make  our  flesh  creep  hold- 
ing our  brothers  and  friends  up  to  us  as  our  enemies 
and  destroyers.  They  are  not.  On  the  contrary,  they 
want  to  help  us  drive  out  once  for  all  that  bloody 
horror,  autocracy.  They  want  to  hold  out  their  hands 
to  us  as  friends — across  all  the  ruin  and  desolation 
wrought  by  the  cold-hearted  egoism  of  the  monarchs 
attempting  to  save  their  own  rotten  existence. 

Our  western  brothers  are  not  fighting  against  us, 
the  misguided  German  people,  but  against  those  who 
are  enslaving  and  oppressing  us  and  who,  as  though 
that  were  not  enough,  are  also  trying  to  enslave  and 
oppress  other  nations. 

Not  until  all  force  will  have  been  removed  and  end- 


Monarchy  or  Democracy  39 

less  rules  and  regulations  and  prohibitions  will  no 
longer  cramp  us  at  every  step,  will  we  attain  to  the 
height  of  our  possibilities.  The  nations  of  the  world 
will  wrestle  for  the  palm  in  open,  honorable  contest, 
not  as  sullen,  treacherous  enemies. 

But  the  one  and  only  thing  that  can  help  us  in 
this  ascent,  from  which  the  evil  spirit  of  autocracy 
has  so  long  held  us  back,  will  be  the  dominion  of  the 
free  people,  a  democracy  born  in  this  horrible  night 
of  blood  and  death  and  tears.  And  freedom  is  now 
being  born,  as  truly  as  there  is  eternal  justice. 

Who  can  still  doubt  that  the  war  would  have  been 
impossible  had  a  democracy  instead  of  a  monarchy 
ruled  in  Germany  in  1914? 

I  for  one  think  it  would  have  been  impossible,  and 
I  am  convinced  the  weapons  will  be  wrested  for  ever 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  guilty.  For  such  a  catastro- 
phe must  be  the  last  in  the  history  of  civilized  hu- 
manity. 


GERMAN  BARBARIANS? 

YES,  that's  what  we  are,  German  barbarians.  Yet 
there  seems  to  be  a  little  bit  of  pity  mingled  with  the 
repugnance  expressed  in  this  epithet  which  is  be- 
stowed upon  us  by  the  democratic  nations. 

We  have  often  read  about  deeds  of  the  ''German 
barbarians/'  and  there  unmistakably  was  a  tone  of 
painful  disillusionment  underlying  the  accounts.  Peo- 
ple had  thought  the  countrymen  of  a  Kant,  a  Bee- 
thoven, or  a  Wagner  were  no  longer  barbarians.  They 
now  discovered  their  own  mistake.  They  found  that 
the  Germans  actually  are  barbarians. 

One  clearly  perceives  the  pain  and  regret  felt  by 
free  men  that  their  brothers  in  the  east  should  be  so 
inconceivably  blind  as  to  take  them  for  enemies  and 
attack  them,  instead  of  realizing  who  their  enemies 
actually  are. 

And  the  poor  German  barbarian  even  goes  and  lays 
down  his  life  for  his  real  enemies,  who  are  also  the 
enemies  of  all  civilization  and  culture. 

Or  am  I  wrong?  Was  it  not  an  act  of  barbarism, 
40 


German  Barbarians?  41 

incredible  barbarism,  to  obey  the  behests  of  a  mad- 
man and  knock  European  civilization  into  ruins  and 
suddenly  attack  peaceful  nations  with  whom  the  Ger- 
man nation  had  no  quarrel?  Who  but  a  barbarian, 
could  carry  out  such  orders,  who  but  a  barbarian 
would  be  so  unconscious  of  the  atrocity  of  his  conduct, 
who  but  a  barbarian  would  not  stop  to  ask  whether 
the  thing  he  was  told  to  do  was  right  or  wrong,  but 
would  stupidly  obey  when  he  is  bidden  to  murder  and 
to  destroy  what  it  has  taken  a  thousand  years  of  civ- 
ilization to  build  up?  That  is  what  barbarians  do, 
barbarians  and  none  else.  So  we  are  "German  bar- 
barians. ' ' 

A  thousand  "fatherland"  pens  are  busily  at  work 
trying  to  twist  and  muddle  the  true  meaning  of  the 
indictment  against  us.  They  want  to  shunt  the  ques- 
tion on  to  another  track  so  as  to  be  able  to  use  it  as  a 
means  for  inciting  us  against  the  enemy.  It  is  only 
for  that  purpose,  only  to  incite  us,  that  they  give  the 
epithet  "German  barbarians"  a  meaning  it  does  not 
possess,  a  meaning  that  enables  them,  as  German  pa- 
triots full  of  moral  indignation,  to  prove  that  we  are 
not  barbarians.  How  touchingly  they  tell  of  a  Ger- 
man soldier  who  gives  a  child  bread  instead  of  eating 
the  child  up,  as  the-  enemies  charge  our  soldiers  do, 
or  of  how  a  German  soldier  takes  a  child  on  his  arm 


42     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

and  shows  it  a  picture  of  his  own  children;  of  how 
our  "field-greys"  play  music  in  the  trenches  or  sit  in 
the  theaters  after  having  brushed  the  dirt  of  the 
trenches  out  of  their  clothes. 

These  patriots  do  not  see  that  it  is  barbarism  and 
nothing  else  for  mere  matters-of-course  to  be  cited 
triumphantly  a  thousand  times  as  proof  that  we  are 
not  barbarians  but  know  what  civilization  is. 

None  of  our  enemies,  no  rational  men,  in  fact,  make 
any  such  accusations  against  us,  and  there  is  certainly 
a  good  bit  of  barbarism  in  every  penny-a-liner  who 
tries  to  refute  an  unmade  charge  by  such  common- 
places and  trivialities.  Either  one  of  two  things  is 
true  of  him.  Either  he  wants  in  a  barbarous  way  to 
incite  the  nations  against  each  other  still  more  than 
they  are,  and  shrinks  from  no  perversion  of  the  truth ; 
or  he  actually  lacks  comprehension  of  the  true  mean- 
ing of  the  indictment. 

But  the  man  who  with  open  eyes  followed  the 
events  preceding  the  war  can  never  be  blinded  to  the 
fact  that  the  signal  for  the  unheard-of  barbarism  of 
this  war  was  given  by  a  government  that  calls  itself  a 
German  government,  even  if  in  actuality  it  is  a  Prus- 
sian government.  And  nothing  can  ever  make  one 
forget  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  German  people 


German  Barbarians?  43 

did  not  resist  the  insanity,  the  barbarism  of  their 
government. 

If  ever  there  was  a  nation  whose  duty  it  was  to 
stay  the  hand  of  an  irresponsible  dictator,  it  was  the 
German  nation,  the  nation  that  gave  the  world  a 
Diirer  and  a  Holbein,  the  nation  that  blessed  human- 
ity with  immortal  works  of  sculpture.  But  the  Ger- 
mans did  not  hold  the  dictator  back.  They  share  in 
the  guilt  of  his  barbarism.  We  Germans  are  bar- 
barians. 


VI 

HERR  HELFFERICH 

HE'S  the  crier  standing  outside  the  theater  at  the 
fair  announcing  the  show  inside.  He's  the  clown 
with  the  big  drum.  Both  in  one. 

Walk  in,  ladies  and  gentlemen !  Just  walk  in.  The 
greatest  financial  transaction  in  the  world  going  on 
inside!  Can't  be  beat!  Walk  in! 

Anybody  with  money,  sign  up.  Anybody  without 
money,  certainly  sign  up.  Every  German  may  and 
should  and  must  take  part,  even  the  poorest.  So  that 
when  the  great  crash  comes  each  one  will  have  his  war 
souvenir  to  remind  him  of  how  dear  his  fatherland 
has  become  to  him. 

Herr  Helfferich's  talking  apparatus  is  as  phenom- 
enal as  his  financial  transactions.  He  is  fully  equal 
to  the  "great  time"  we  are  living  in,  and  he  stands 
out  prominently  from  among  his  Prussian  colleagues, 
even  though  most  of  them  are  by  no  means  tongue- 
tied.  That  is  why  his  beneficent  activity  is  not  con- 
fined to  "touching"  the  public.  He  comes  in  handy 

44 


Herr  Helfferich  45 

for  all  sorts  of  jobs.  The  helpful*  Helfferieh  must 
help  everywhere. 

If  a  minister  has  driven  his  car  so  hard  in  the 
Prussian  Landtag  or  Reichstag  that  it  sticks  in  the 
mud  and  can't  go  forward  or  backward,  then  they 
hurry  up  and  go  fetch  Herr  Helfferich,  and  he  comes 
panting,  this  best  and  strongest  draught  horse  of  the 
Prussian  government  does,  and  pulls  the  car  out  of 
the  mud  again,  and  so  adroitly  that  not  only  the 
whole  world  but  also  His  Majesty  must  behold  and 
laud  his  achievement. 

No  matter  what  the  question  in  hand,  whether  ra- 
tions, or  franking  the  mail  for  the  German  princes 

and  rulers  and  their  wives,  mothers,  sisters,  daugh- 
«, 

ters,  aunts,  nieces  and  seamstresses,  or  the  internal 
policy  of  the  country,  or  the  U-boat  warfare,  or  the 
regulations  about  potash,  he  can  instantly  step  in, 
without  requiring  any  technical  knowledge  of  the 
subject  and  set  everything  straight,  because  all  that  is 
ever  required  is  simply  to  give  those  disturbers  of 
the  peace,  the  Social  Democrats,  a  good  whack  on  the 
jaw. 

In  every  case  he  needs  nothing  more  than  his  arro- 
gance and  superciliousness  and — glib  tongue.  He 
makes  a  speech  where  another  man  couldn't  say 

*  A  play  upon  his  name.     Heifer  means  a  helper. 


46     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

"Boo,"  and  it's  lucky  for  him  that  the  Prussian 
government  considers  it  correct  form  for  every  trace 
of  an  idea  to  be  strictly  avoided  in  even  the  lengthi- 
est speeches. 

Hence  the  great  and  well-deserved  applause  with 
which  Herr  Helfferich 's  appearances  in  the  Reichstag 
are  greeted  by  all  friends  of  the  fatherland. 

(Ever  since  the  earliest  attempts  of  "William  II, 
the  great  orator,  the  German  people  know  what  they 
owe  their  intellectual  heroes.) 

Herr  Helfferich  is  no  less  at  home — why,  he  is  even 
more  at  home — in  the  financial  affairs  of  the  enemy 
countries  than  he  is  in  German  financial  affairs. 

What  accurate  knowledge  he  displays,  for  instance, 
of  English  finances!  Remarkable!  Just  as  if  the 
British  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  had  whispered  all 
his  secrets  in  his  ear  a  half-hour  before. 

He  knows  the  English  are  very  badly  off,  very  badly 
off.  Who  else  should  know  it  but  Herr  Helfferich? 
The  English  exchange  has  sunk  to  a  level,  only  exceed- 
ed— though,  to  be  sure,  by  a  considerable  degree — by 
the — German  exchange !  The  state  of  affairs  in  Eng- 
land is  wretched. 

The  only  thing  that  could  save  the  English — if 
they  are  still  to  be  saved  at  all — would  be  a  Herr 
Helfferich.  Of  course,  with  their  peculiar  insular 


Herr  Helfferich  47 

shrewdness,  they  realized  this  long  ago,  and  from  this 
realization  it  was  only  a  step  to  a  truly  diabolic 
scheme,  an  act  of  force  such  as  would  cap  all  their 
deeds  of  violence  in  this  war. 

For  several  weeks  there  has  already  been  a  secret 
English  commission  in  Romanshorn  in  Switzerland, 
consisting  of  various  tried  and  resolute  robber  chief- 
tains and  other  financial  leaders  of  the  island  empire, 
and  also  Sherlock  Holmes,  all  disguised  as  innocent 
fishermen.  They  are  simply  waiting  for  a  favorable 
wind  to  set  sail  across  Lake  Constance. 

Their  sealed  orders  read  to  sneak  through  to  Ber- 
lin and  lay  hold  of  Herr  Helfferich  bodily,  dead  or 
alive,  preferably  alive,  and  deliver  him  to  the  chan- 
cellor of  the  exchequer  in  London.  The  British  want 
to  learn  the  truth  about  their  finances  from  him,  and 
if  possible  secure  his  services  by  offering  him  a  daz- 
zling sum.  Fancy!  The  services  of  the  greatest 
financier  in  the  world !  Such  a  truly  diabolic  scheme 
could  only  have  been  conceived  because  Herr 
Helfferich 's  fondness  for  changing  positions  is  well 
known  even  in  England,  and — well,  who  can  tell  ? 

Once  in  possession  of  this  great  financier,  England 
would  win  the  war,  which  otherwise  is  already  lost. 

As  has  been  remarked,  the  English  being  practical 
people,  were  quick  to  perceive  that  Herr  Helfferich 


48     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

understood  their  finances  better  than  they  did  them- 
selves. Besides,  they  had  become  convinced  that  in 
the  whole  United  Kingdom  no  man  had  presented 
himself  who  was  endowed  with  such  well-developed 
organs  and  faculties  of  speech  as  Herr  Helfferich; 
which,  assuredly,  is  a  serious  drawback  in  the  war. 

But  if  this  diabolic  scheme  of  England's  fails,  a 
far  blacker  scheme  even  than  the  starving  out  of 
Germany,  why  then  England's  fate  is  sealed.  Hur- 
rah! 

The  other  enemies,  of  course,  are  not  nearly  so 
well  worth  Herr  Helfferich 's  talking  about.  At  the 
very  outset  of  the  war  France  had  not  a  thing,  no 
money,  no  men.  She  probably  won't  be  able  to  ne- 
gotiate her  next  loan,  because  neither  Liechtenstein 
nor  San  Marino*  can  be  got  out  of  their  neutrality. 
So  that  if  the  loan  can't  be  put  across  in  Austria, 
which  is  wading  knee-deep  in  money — put  across  in 
the  same  sneaky  way  that  England  employed  in  or- 
der to  snatch  a  decent  chancellor  of  exchequer  from 
Berlin — then  all's  over  with  France. 

And  Italy? 

Why,  Italy  since  the  occupation  of  Rome  in  1870 
has  scarcely  seen  a  scudo,  and  everybody  knows  that 
the  reason  it  cannot  hold  out  against  Austria  is  that 

*  Tiny  independent  countries  in  Europe. 


Herr  Helfferich  49 

it  has  no  money  to  make  shells  and  so  has  to  shoot  hot 
chestnuts. 

So  that  is  the  state  our  enemies  are  in.  Herr 
Helfferich  says  so  and  he  knows. 

And  our  enemies  have  no  Helfferich  to  help  them, 
while  we  have. 

Hurrah,  hurrah,  hurrah  I 


VII 
HUNGER 

RUSSIAN  prisoners  were  being  led  out  of  Puchheim 
to  work  early  in  the  morning.  They  were  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  soldiers  of  the  landsturm  carrying 
loaded  guns. 

On  the  way  a  poor  devil  found  a  piece  of  carrot 
and  picked  it  up  and  tried  to  wipe  it  off  quickly  on 
his  clothes,  so  as  to  eat  it.  He  was  hungry. 

A  landsturm  soldier  caught  sight  of  him  doing  this 
awful  thing  and  knocked  the  piece  of  carrot  out  of 
his  hand  and  even  abused  him  and  called  him  greedy. 
''They  always  want  to  be  eating,  nothing  but  eating, 
all  day  long."  The  Russian  quickly  stooped  down 
and  picked  the  piece  of  carrot  up  again.  It  was  no 
cleaner  from  having  fallen  on  the  ground.  Seeing 
the  soldier  was  about  to  knock  it  out  of  his  hand  a 
second  time,  he  hastily  stuck  it  in  his  mouth,  dirt 
and  all. 

The  hungry  Russian  was  punished  for  disobeying 
the  orders  of  his  superior. 

He  was  guilty  of  a  crime,  the  crime  of  simply 
50 


Hunger  51 

wanting  to  stick  something  in  his  mouth.    But  that  is 
forbidden  now  in  Prussia-Germany. 

This  insignificant  incident  would  scarcely  be  worth 
the  notice  if  it  were  not  proof  of  an  uncommonly 
petty,  heartless  sentiment  now  general  in  our  coun- 
try. Just  imagine — begrudging  a  hungry  fellow-man 
a  dirty  bit  of  carrot  for  no  apparent  reason  beyond 
the  desire  to  add  to  the  sufferings  of  his  captivity. 
The  epithet  "barbarous"  does  not  properly  charac- 
terize such  conduct.  As  a  rule  barbarians  and  sav- 
ages are  kindly  creatures. 

Is  the  whole  German  nation  to  be  judged  by  this 
example?  The  poor  devil  of  a  Russian  will  be  in- 
clined to  do  so.  Have  simple  humanity,  kind-heart- 
edness and  pity  ever  actually  been  characteristics  of 
ours  ?  Has  the  German  ever  been  ' '  noble,  helpful  and 
good,"  or  has  he  not?  If  he  has,  then  have  these 
beautiful  human  traits  been  lost  to  us,  have  they  been 
stolen  from  us?  Yes,  I  fear  me,  they  really  have 
been  stolen  from  us.  Assuredly  we  used  to  be  just  as 
kind-hearted  and  compassionate  as  other  people,  and 
would  never  have  approved  of  such  treatment  of  a 
vanquished  enemy.  We  should  have  been  incapable 
of  such  a  thing.  But  now  we  are  capable  of  it. 

We  have  so  accustomed  ourselves  to  the  brutal  ideas 
of  Prussian  militarism  that  we  look  upon  all  noble, 


52     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

humane  feeling  as  ridiculous,  contemptible  weakness. 

All  we  know  now  are  enemies,  enemies  everywhere, 
who,  we  are  told,  want  to  crush  us.  And  so  we  must 
try  to  injure  them  in  every  way  we  can. 

We  have  nothing  but  enemies  and  shall  have  noth- 
ing but  enemies.  Militarism  wants  it  so.  Therefore, 
our  hearts  have  been  hardened,  and  our  eyes  see  evil, 
and  militarism,  the  enemy  of  man,  has  taught  us  to 
look  upon  all  the  nations  as  our  enemies. 

The  landsturm  soldier  only  did  his  duty  accord- 
ing to  the  instructions  of  militarism.  He  had  his  or- 
ders under  severe  penalty. 

Others  who  act  just  as  inhumanely  as  the  landsturm 
soldier  are  also  doing  nothing  but  their  duty.  The 
judge  who  sentenced  a  girl  to  prison  for  smiling  at 
prisoners  of  war  did  nothing  but  his  duty.  Likewise, 
another  judge  who  had  a  woman  put  in  prison  for 
throwing  cigarettes  to  captives.  It  is  the  hard,  evil 
force  of  militarism  that  has  made  these  people  think 
the  way  they  do.  It  has  bid  them  hate  and  has  up- 
rooted every  other  feeling  in  their  hearts. 


VIII 
ORGANIZATION  * 

I  CAN  'T  help  it,  it  makes  me  sick,  nauseatingly  sick, 
every  time  I  hear  or  read  this  word.  And  yet  I'm 
not  sure  of  not  hearing  it  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or 
night.  If  things  keep  on  the  same  way,  I  foresee 
the  worst  consequences. 

You  feel  as  though  you,  were  in  a  chicken-yard,  and 
every  time  a  hen  is  about  to  lay  an  egg,  and  then 
after  she  has  laid  it,  she  cackles  and  cackles  till  your 
ears  ache.  She  must  let  the  world  know  how  well 
satisfied  she  is  with  her  great  achievement. 

It  is  the  cackling  that  seems  to  be  the  essential,  the 
kernel  of  the  Prussian  organization.  Shout,  shout! 
Let  the  people  know  all  that  the  organizers  are  doing 
for  their  welfare.  The  word  organization  must  al- 
ways be  in  the  people's  eyes  and  on  their  lips,  for 
nothing  else,  probably,  than  as  a  means  of  appeasing 
their  hunger  through  the  suggestion  that  the  utmost  is 
being  done  for  them.  The  thing  that  is  far  more  vital 

*  The  word  used  in  Germany  for  what  is  called  the  "food 
administration"  in  the  United  States. 

53 


54    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

than  publicity,  that  is,  the  actual  provisioning  of  the 
people,  falls  into  the  background.  Why,  of  what  in- 
terest can  it  be  to  a  man  whether  within  the  next 
weeks  or  months  he's  going  to  have  enough  to  eat, 
provided  he  has  the  satisfying  feeling  that  the  or- 
ganizers are  plying  their  job  indefatigably. 

Unfortunately,  however,  it  seems  that  for  all  its 
publicity,  the  Germans  do  not  yet  appreciate  the 
Prussian  organization  as  they  should,  and  so  the 
' '  fatherland ' '  newspapers  have  to  keep  pounding  into 
the  public  how  much  the  Prussian  organization  is  ad- 
mired all  over  the  world,  by  everybody  from  the 
Samoans  to  the  Zulus  and  the  Patagonians.  Accord- 
ing to  these  papers,  our  organization  is  so  great  an 
object  of  envy  that,  just  to  cite  one  example,  the 
Chinese  have  already  turned  yellow  with  annoyance 
because  they  have  no  such  organization. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  our  organization  is  one  of  the 
greatest  absurdities  of  Prussia  at  war.  And  on  care- 
ful observation,  the  thing  that  is  heralded  with  a 
blare  of  trumpets  as  one  of  the  most  glorious  fruits 
of  Prussian  ingenuity,  turns  out  to  be  nothing  more 
than  a  wretched  compromise  between  the  unscrupu- 
lous covetousness  of  the  Prussian  agrarians,  who  want 
to  exploit  this  opportunity,  and  the  rulers  *  doddering 
fear  of  the  wrath  of  the  starving  masses.  This  high- 


Organization  55 

est  emanation  of  our  statesmanship,  as  it  is  set  before 
us  for  our  admiration,  is  simply  a  measure  dictated 
by  dire  necessity  to  delay  the  great  crash  a  little  longer 
yet. 

We  may  be  sure  it  is  not  to  fatherly  concern  for 
our  welfare  that  we  owe  the  organization,  but  to  the 
fear  that  need  and  hunger,  if  nothing  else,  may  open 
the  people's  eyes. 

Anybody  who  really  looks  can  see  that  all  the 
famous  organization  does  is — perhaps;  I  am  not  quite 
sure — save  the  people  from  actual  death  by  starva- 
tion. This  and  nothing  more. 

The  living  conditions  as  regulated  for  us  by  the 
organization  are  such  as  no  nation  in  the  world  would 
stand  for.  Insufficient  bread,  not  enough  potatoes, 
and  scarcely  any  meat.  Thousands  of  us  for  the 
longest  time  now  have  not  even  tasted  butter  and 
eggs.  The  same  is  true  of  many  other  foodstuffs.  "We 
cannot  get  the  things  we  need  most,  and  often  I  sim- 
ply cannot  conceive  how  I  and  other  people  manage 
to  exist.  Perhaps  the  thing  that  keeps  us  up  is  the 
consciousness  that  we  have  our  glorious  organization. 
Really,  one  is  inclined  to  believe  this. 

When  I  think  what  we  are  with  "organization,"  I 
am  curious  to  know  what  we  should  be  like  without 
organization. 


56    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

None  of  our  enemies,  as  we  read  often  enough  in 
our  papers,  has  an  organization.  And  yet,  we  well 
know,  they  have  nothing  approaching  our  difficulties 
to  cope  with.  They  have  the  same  things  to  eat  and 
wear  as  in  peace  time,  and  in  abundance,  too.  The 
whole  difference  is  that  they  have  to  pay  higher  prices' 
for  some  articles,  which  results  from  the  war's  having 
drawn  away  labor  to  a  large  extent  from  the  produc- 
tion of  necessities  in  those  countries,  too.  At  any 
rate,  none  of  our  enemies  is  nearly  so  badly  off  as  we 
are,  and  one  is  almost  inclined  to  wish  that  we  had  as 
little  organization  as  they,  so  that  perhaps  we  might 
be  a  little  better  off. 

That  the  organization  is  a  Prussian  institution  may 
be  observed  from  the  one  fact  alone  that  no  doubts 
about  it  are  allowed.  You  simply  must  believe  in  it 
as  in  the  Gospels.  Nevertheless,  there  are  a  few  un- 
believers, and  here  and  there  you  hear  low  mutter- 
ings  of  "Prussian  fraud,"  and  "a  lot  of  noise."  But 
only  a  few  unbelievers.  Most  of  us  are  so  Prus- 
sianized that  we  have  utter  faith  in  it. 

However,  there  is  a  Prussian  organization  that  is 
not  a  fraud,  and  that,  unlike  the  food  administration, 
is  not  a  child  of  pale  fear.  Nor  was  it  called  into 
being  only  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  It  has  been 
ready  and  equipped  for  years.  And  until  now  it  has 


Organization  57 

never  failed,  but  has  always  kept  its  promises.  For 
it  springs  from  the  innermost  instincts  of  Prussian- 
ism.  It  is  triumphing  now.  The  organization  of 
brute  force  and  bloody  oppression.  The  organization 
of  mass  murder  and  destruction.  It  has  long  been 
crouching  ready  to  leap  like  a  tiger. 

That  is  the  organization,  the  genuine  Prussian  or- 
ganization. But  this  one  does  not  go  in  for  publicity. 
It  does  not  need  to.  It  prefers  to  remain  in  the  dark. 

The  other  one,  however,  the  one  with  all  the  cack- 
ling and  shouting,  is  nothing  but  fraud  and  idle 
bluster. 


IX 
THE  LUSITANIA 

THE  Lusitania!  It  resounds  in  the  world  like  a 
cry  of  anguish  and  horror. 

Premeditated  massacre,  carried  out  in  cold  blood. 
The  murder  of  peaceable,  unsuspecting  men  and 
women. 

What  a  brutal,  bloodthirsty  frame  of  mind  a  man 
must  be  in  to  perform  such  a  deed !  Words  and  com- 
parisons fail  one.  The  thing  is  simply  inconceivable 
because  it  runs  counter  to  every  instinct  of  the  civi- 
lized human  being. 

The  captain  of  the  U-boat  that  sank  the  Lusitania 
is  nothing  less  than  a  common  thug.  He's  no  sol- 
dier. He's  an  assassin  who  leaps  out  of  the  dark  to 
stab  his  innocent  victim. 

In  times  of  peace  how  horrorstruck  we  used  to  be 
if  only  one  perfidious  brute,  lying  in  wait  for  only 
one  person,  destroyed  only  one  human  life.  Here 
the  very  same  thing  was  done  to  1,400  human  be- 
ings, to  women  and  children. 

58 


The  Lusitania  59 

Can  one  picture  to  one's  self  the  whole  frightful1 
ness  of  the  deed? 

Husbands,  wives,  mothers,  seeing  their  dearest  dy- 
ing before  their  very  eyes,  beholding  their  own  death 
upon  them,  an  awful  death  by  drowning;  all  because 
a  vile  murderer  willed  it  so. 

We  should  never  have  dreamed  that  any  such  thing 
was  possible  in  a  civilized  country.  Yet  there  are 
enough  among  us  Germans  who  have  the  courage  to 
justify  this  cowardly  killing  of  defenseless  people. 

We  are  at  war,  they  say,  and  it  was  done  from  ne- 
cessity. 

Yes,  the  necessity  of  a  murderer.  Cold,  undis- 
guised murder.  Where's  the  murderer  who  has  not 
found  justification  for  his  crime? 

Others  say  that  the  U-boat  captain  was  obliged  to 
carry  out  the  orders  of  his  government.  Very  well. 
But  that  does  not  exculpate  him.  It  simply  means  he 
had  accomplices. 

Those  who  hired  the  assassin  are  as  guilty  as  the 
assassin  himself.  Mankind  turns  from  such  infamous 
creatures  in  disgust. 

They  are  worthy  of  one  another,  are  the  murderer 
and  those  who  gave  him  his  horrible  orders,  William 
II  and  his  servants. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAR 

THE  question  of  the  cause  of  the  war  is  indeed  an 
important  one  in  view  of  the  prodigious  sacrifices  of 
human  life,  of  well-being,  and  of  cultural  values  that 
this  horrible  massacre  of  the  nations  is  demanding. 

So  it  is  very  natural  that  .each  government  would 
repel  the  suspicion  of  having  given  occasion  for  the 
war,  or  of  being  guilty  of  its  outbreak.  Nor  is  any 
government  satisfied  with  a  merely  negative  attitude. 
It  takes  positive  steps  to  prove  most  convincingly  that 
all  the  blame  attaches  to  the  enemy  governments, 
while,  for  its  part,  it  was  forced  into  defense  so  as  to 
save  the  country  and  the  people  from  the  destruction 
plotted  by  the  enemy. 

The  only  documents  in  this  matter  to  which  we  Ger- 
mans have  access  that  are  complete  and  genuine  are 
the  manifestoes  issued  by  our  government  in  the 
course  of  the  war.  Of  the  manifestoes  of  the  other 
governments  all  we  know  are  the  fragments  that  our 
authorities  deem  advisable  to  publish  here. 

The  German  government  uses  every  opportunity 
60 


The  Cause  of  the  War  61 

that  presents  itself  to  ascribe  the  exclusive  blame  to 
England.  It  does  so  with  ever  greater  ardor  as  the 
suffering  that  the  war  causes  the  German  people 
grows  more  terrible.  Again  and  again  we  are  told, 
''England  and  England  alone  is  to  blame.  England 
wanted  to  crush  Germany  and  united  half  the  world 
against  her  for  that  purpose." 

But  this  is  in  curious  contrast  to  the  fact  that  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  war  was  Austria's  quarrel 
with  Servia,  while  the  declarations  of  war  against 
Russia  and  France  proceeded  from  Berlin,  as  well  as 
the  march  into  Belgium.  These  are  indisputable  facts 
known  to  everybody,  and  it  is  hard  to  see  what  Eng- 
land's part  is  and  just  why  England  must  bear  sole 
blame  for  the  war. 

Naturally  a  statement  so  oft  repeated,  which  is  in 
contradiction  to  the  actual  happenings  at  the  out- 
break of  the  war,  will  eventually  arouse  distrust  in 
every  man  who  tries  to  preserve  his  independence  of 
judgment  and  has  not  determined  from  the  start  to 
give  up  all  opinions  of  his  own  and  accept  without 
reservation  whatever  the  government  wishes  him  to 
accept. 

The  instant  that  Germany  decided  to  throw  down 
the  glove  to  Russia  and  France,  Austria  and  Servia 
stepped  completely  into  the  background.  And  every 


62    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

man  who  knows  his  European  history  also  knows  that 
Germany's  invasion  of  Belgium  was  tantamount  to  a 
declaration  of  war  against  England  as  one  of  the 
guaranty  powers  for  Belgian  neutrality  in  any  Euro- 
pean war.  Thus,  England  was  drawn  into  the  con- 
flict, and  the  genuine  character  of  the  war  was  in- 
stantly revealed — as  a  duel  between  England  and 
Germany  with  seconds  on  each  side. 

The  opposition  between  the  two  states,  which  had 
never  come  out  clearly  before,  now  of  a  sudden  was 
quite  manifest,  in  all  the  sharpness  of  its  outlines. 

People  compare  the  collision  between  the  two  states 
to  the  explosion  of  mighty  bombs  thrown  at  each  other 
by  the  hands  of  Titans;  and  from  the  tremendous 
force  of  the  impact  they  deduce  that  the  opposition 
not  only  was  exceedingly  strong  but  also  of  very 
ancient  date. 

That  is  not  so.  Between  England  and  Germany 
there  were  none  of  the  causes  for  friction  of  long 
standing  such  as,  chief  of  all,  a  boundary  line  in  com- 
mon ;  that  source  of  old  grudges  lasting  for  centuries 
sometimes,  as  between  Germany  and  Austria  and  Ger- 
many and  France. 

The  opposition  between  Germany  and  England  is 
recent,  going  no  farther  back,  in  the  main,  than  the 
reign  of  William  II.  To  the  careful  observer  it  re- 


The  Cause  of  the  War  63 

veals  an  evolution  something  like  the  following. 
From  the  many  public  speeches  and  addresses  de- 
livered by  William  II  since  his  accession  to  the 
throne,  the  English  government  eventually  and  of 
necessity  derived  the  impression  that  the  Kaiser,  in 
addition  to  his  army,  the  largest  the  world  had  ever 
seen,  was  eager  to  build  up  a  navy  too,  which  would 
rival  and,  if  possible,  excel  the  English  navy.  "Our 
future  lies  on  the  water. ' ' 

Naturally  a  result  of  the  Kaiser's  speeches  and  allu- 
sions was  to  produce  a  feeling  of  uneasiness  in  Eng- 
land. But  certainly  what  must  have  contributed  even 
more  to  the  English  government's  disquiet  than  the 
Kaiser's  public  utterances  were  the  things  he  said  to 
so-called  "friends,"  to  whom  the  high  gentleman  ex- 
pressed himself  concerning  the  aims  of  his  policy  with 
a  lack  of  reserve  prompted  by  anything  in  the  world 
rather  than  statesmanlike  wisdom  or  diplomatic  skill. 

The  best  example  is  the  notorious  interview  between 
William  II  and  an  English  nobleman.  It  aroused 
such  a  stir,  not  only  in  England,  but  still  more  so  in 
Germany,  that  the  chancellor,  Billow,  had  to  say 
some  very  emphatic  things  to  the  Kaiser  and  extract  a 
promise  from  him  to  be  more  cautious  in  the  future. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  English  followed  the  Kaiser's 
speeches  and  doings  with  growing  distrust  and  uneasi- 


64     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

ness.  They  knew,  of  course,  that  Germany's  fate  de- 
pended upon  his  personal  rule,  and  German  diplo- 
macy as  a  factor  in  the  determination  of  the  situation 
was  not  to  be  reckoned  with,  was  a  cipher,  in  fact,  and 
the  German  people  at  large  certainly  had  no  influence. 
So  if  it  pleased  the  highest  war-lord,  war  could  be 
brought  about  overnight. 

Even  if  Germany's  prodigious  land  force  might 
have  been  regarded  as  an  instrument  in  the  Kaiser's 
hands  for  threatening  France  and  Russia,  the  sea 
force,  which  was  being  so  rapidly  strengthened,  was 
aimed  undoubtedly  against  none  but  England. 
Against  whom  else  could  it  reasonably  have  been 
used? 

Now,  to  England  free  and  unhampered  traffic  of  the 
seas  is  a  question  of  genuinely  vital  importance.  The 
people  living  on  the  British  Isles  depend  upon  the 
undisturbed  and  undisturbable  supply  of  necessities 
from  overseas.  Consequently  the  domination  of  the 
water  is  simply  a  question  of  to  be  or  not  to  be  to 
Great  Britain.  It  is  of  far  less  significance  to  Ger- 
many, purely  a  matter  of  prestige  as  a  matter  of  fact. 
For  nobody  in  Germany  need  starve  on  that  account. 
This  the  war  has  shown  clearly. 

Moreover  England  has  India  and  her  other  colonies 
to  protect,  or,  at  least,  has  her  connections  with  them 


The  Cause  of  the  War  65 

to  maintain,  and  the  fate  of  India  or  of  any  other 
of  the  older  colonies  means  far  more  to  England  than 
the  fate,  let  us  say,  of  Southwest  Africa  or  the 
Kamerun  to  Germany. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  the  speeded  increase  of  the 
German  navy,  for  which  there  seemed  no  necessity 
based  on  evident,  factual  conditions,  should  only  fan 
the  uneasiness  and  distrust  of  the  English  government 
and  turn  into  certainty  the  view  gaming  ground 
among  widening  circles  of  the  English  people,  that 
all  these  efforts  on  Germany's  part  were  directed  to- 
ward the  annihilation  of  the  British  realm. 

And  the  German  press,  for  its  part,  left  nothing  un- 
done to  make  the  fears  of  the  English  appear  well 
founded  and  to  produce  in  the  people  of  Great  Britain 
the  feeling  that  the  German  knife  was  already  at 
their  throats.  The  notorious  pensioned  generals  like 
Bernhardi  all  blew  the  same  horn. 

Of  course  there  was  a  set  of  people  in  England  to 
whom  this  state  of  dread  and  panic  was  very  welcome 
and  who  tried  their  utmost  to  exploit  it  to  their  ad- 
vantage. The  armament  industry,  in  which  vast  cap- 
ital is  engaged  in  England  as  well  as  elsewhere,  made 
use  of  this  condition  of  affairs,  with  the  help  of  a 
complaisant  nationalist  press,  in  part  dependent  upon 
the  armament  capitalists,  to  whip  up  passions  into 


66     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

white  heat.  But  these  honorable  gentlemen  were  not 
concerned  so  much  with  war  itself  as  with  the  coining 
of  fresh  millions  through  increased  appropriations  for 
armaments.  And  the  English  people,  under  the  lash 
of  the  fear  thus  created  in  them  and  magnified  a 
thousandfold,  sanctioned  whatever  was  asked  of  them 
for  new  and  ever  more  extravagant  preparations  to 
meet  the  expected  attack. 

The  next  thing  that  had  to  be  done  was  to  make 
sure  that  the  naval  armament  panic  in  England  was 
properly  exploited  in  Germany.  The  same  state  of 
mind  had  to  be  created  here,  too.  The  English  prep- 
arations had  to  be  held  up  as  a  danger  signal  to  the 
Germans  so  as  to  force  them  into  greater  speed  in  the 
strengthening  of  the  army  and  navy. 

The  mania  for  armaments  became  intolerable. 

Finally  the  English  government  realized  that  af- 
fairs could  not  go  on  that  way  any  longer  and  that 
such  a  competitive  race  for  armaments,  if  carried  on 
for  a  length  of  time,  would  inevitably  result  in  serious 
injury  to  the  nations.  So  it  made  an  attempt  to  bring 
about  an  agreement  with  the  German  government  by 
which  the  naval  preparations  of  both  countries  were 
to  be  restricted.  Whatever  other  endeavors  the  Eng- 
lish government  may  have  made  can  only  be  surmised, 


The  Cause  of  the  War  67 

though  the  repeated  visits  to  Berlin  of  the  sympa- 
thetic Lord  Haldane  provided  a  few  sign-posts. 

A§  is  generally  known,  the  attempts  of  the  English 
government  as  well  ai  the  peace  congresses  held  at 
The  Hague  came  to  naught.  Of  who  was  to  blame 
there  can  be  no  doubt. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  negotiations  long  carried  on 
between  the  English  government  and  France  and  Rus- 
sia went  so  far  that  an  understanding  was  reached  at 
least  with  these  countries  concerning  various  ques- 
tions the  amicable  solution  of  which  had  formerly 
seemed  hopeless. 

Edward  VII  and  his  ministers  had  gone  to  work 
with  great  patience  and  perseverance  to  remove 
sources  of  friction  and  bury  old  grudges. 

This  policy,  which  England  pursued  from  its 
"splendid  isolation,"  was  imposed  upon  Edward  VII 
through  fear  of  a  sudden  German  attack  and  the  wish 
to  be  ready  for  any  emergency  that  might  arise  from 
that  quarter.  It  was  a  policy  of  reinsurance,  purely 
defensive  in  its  nature.  And  not  to  recognize  that  it 
was  defensive,  but  to  ascribe  to  it  motives  of  aggres- 
sion against  Germany,  implies  a  considerable  amount 
of  nationalist  prejudice. 

This  is  all  that  the  so-called  "encircling"  policy 
connected  with  the  name  of  Edward  VII  amounted  to. 


68     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

It  is  always  set  down  as  peculiarly  hostile  to  Ger- 
many. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Edward  VII  and  his  ministers 
would  have  been  just  as  glad  to  reach  an  agreement 
with  Germany  as  with  Russia  or  France. 

Yet  William  II 's  awkward  and  ill-considered 
speeches  made  Germany  stand  there  like  a  cur  show- 
ing its  teeth  ready  to  jump  at  England's  legs.  And 
the  ".fatherland"  press  did  its  share  toward  inciting 
the  two  brother  nations  against  each  other. 

The  thing  that  is  always  given  as  the  cause  of  the 
"encircling"  policy  is  England's  envy  of  Germany's 
commercial  development.  This  is  so  absurd  and  so 
easily  disproved  that  it  scarcely  requires  refuta- 
tion. 

Germany's  tremendous  development  is  a  fact.  But 
Germany  is  not  the  only  country  that  has  developed. 
The  other  nations  have  been  progressing,  too.  How 
about  the  United  States  ?  Why  should  England  select 
Germany  in  particular  as  the  mark  of  her  envy  ?  Why 
should  she  not  be  envious  of  the  other  countries,  too  ? 
Is  there  any  rational  basis  whatsoever  for  the  assump- 
tion that  England  is  envious  ?  The  statistics  that  show 
how  Germany's  trade  figures  keep  getting  closer  and 
closer  to  England 's  are  misleading.  The  figures  given 
always  refer  to  the  mother  country  alone.  Figures 


The  Cause  of  the  War  69 

for  the  colonies  are  almost  invariably  disregarded.  If 
statistics  could  be  obtained  of  the  trade  of  the  whole 
British  Empire  and  these  compared  with  the  statis- 
tics of  Germany's  trade,  everybody  would  instantly 
see  that  it  is  not  England  that  needs  to  be  envious. 

Thus,  an  unbiased  consideration  of  the  facts  thor- 
oughly disproves  the  assertion  of  the  Berlin  govern- 
ment that  England  was  to  blame  for  the  war  be- 
cause of  her  envy  of,  and  ill-will  to,  Germany's  com- 
mercial development.  On  the  contrary,  the  assertion 
turns  out  to  be  a  base  deception  of  the  German  peo- 
ple, inspired  by  the  desire  to  appear  guiltless  of  the 
war  in  their  eyes. 

But  the  war,  we  know,  is  not  being  carried  on  with 
England  alone.  A  number  of  other  countries  besides 
are  involved.  So,  in  fixing  the  blame  for  the  war,  it 
is  necessary  to  consider  Germany's  relations  with 
these  countries,  too. 

As  for  France,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  her  people 
have  not  yet  completely  forgotten  the  extreme  humil- 
iation of  1870.  For  France  was  not  a  state  to  be 
looked  down  upon  at  that  time.  She  stood  at  a  high 
degree  of  cultural  development,  and  all  her  provinces 
were  closely  knit  together  by  historical  ties  and  com- 
mon traditions  of  liberty. 

It  has  now  become  clear  what  Bismarck's  forcible 


70    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

measure  really  was — a  mistake,  a  very  serious  mii- 
take,  which  has  robbed  the  whole  of  mankind  of  forty- 
four  years  of  peace  and  quiet. 

The  pain  produced  by  the  amputation  of  two 
provinces,  which  were  intimate,  vital  parts  of  the 
French  organism,  went  deeper  than  we  could  ever  have 
dreamed.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  decide  to  what  state, 
from  a  purely  political  point  of  view,  the  two  prov- 
inces belong,  as  our  Pan- Germans  would  have  us  be- 
lieve. In  fact,  in  their  opinion,  there  are  even  other 
parts  of  France  that  are  Germanic,  too,  and  ought 
really  to  be  taken  away  from  France  now. 

At  any  rate,  before  1870,  Alsace  and  Lorraine  be- 
longed to  France  by  the  very  same  right  that  they 
now  belong  to  Germany.  But  what  is  more  important 
than  mere  political  affiliation  with  this  or  that  state 
is  the  fact  that  the  democratically  minded  people  of 
Alsace-Lorraine  did  not  cease  in  the  forty-four  years 
after  1870  to  dream  of  their  past  and  look  upon  them- 
selves as  members  of  the  democratic  French  nation, 
while  viewing  their  annexation  to  Germany  as  a 
merely  temporary  condition. 

They  ever  awaited  with  yearning  the  savior  who 
was  to  come  forth  from  France  and  snatch  them  from 
the  clutches  of  Prussian  despotism.  Their  ideas  and 
feelings  remained  French,  and  they  were  attached  to 


The  Cause  of  the  War  71 

the  French  people  by  the  memory  of  the  wonderful 
period  they  had  lived  through  together,  when  they 
had  helped  to  enthrone  human  rights,  liberty,  equality 
and  fraternity. 

Is  it  conceivable  that  such  sentiments  of  love  and 
devotion  should  remain  unrequited  in  France?  No, 
impossible.  It  was  inevitable  that  the  longing  to  an- 
nex Alsace-Lorraine  to  the  French  fatherland  again 
should  never  be  quite  stilled. 

Another  factor  entered — the  apprehension  that  the 
two  provinces  lost  in  1870  might  not  be  enough  and 
that  Germany  might  some  day  come  again  and  take 
by  force  the  land  that  it  needed  for  its  surplus  popu- 
lation. 

And  recently  new  occasions  for  rivalry  have  arisen 
as  a  result  of  colonial  possessions.  Indignation,  for 
instance,  ran  high  in  France  over  Germany 's  stepping 
into  Morocco  as  disturber  of  the  peace  when  for  years 
she  had  in  a  measure  been  favoring  France's  expan- 
sion in  North  Africa,  not  for  love  of  her  fair  neighbor, 
to  be  sure,  but  in  order  to  divert  the  attention  of  the 
French  from  Alsace-Lorraine. 

The  time  came  when  in  Germany  it  was  thought  no 
longer  necessary  so  to  divert  their  attention,  and  the 
German  government,  therefore,  turned  to  colonial  mat- 


72     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

ters  which,  unfortunately,  were  taken  up  in  a  place 
where  France  felt  she  had  inalienable  rights. 

In  this  instance,  too,  the  nationalist  press  in  both 
England  and  Germany  intervened  in  the  service  of 
the  armament  capitalists  to  inflame  passions  and  in- 
cite France  on  to  ever  greater  antagonism  to  Ger- 
many. As  a  result,  the  armament  industry  flourished 
in  France  also,  and  this,  in  turn,  did  not  fail  to  have 
its  reaction  upon  the  increase  of  armaments  in  Ger- 
many and  to  result  in  an  arming  contest  between  the 
two  states. 

This  was  the  sole  purpose  of  the  French  armament 
interests.  In  bringing  about  this  rivalry,  their  real 
and  only  object  had  been  achieved.  Like  the  English 
capitalists,  all  they  cared  for  was  the  keeping  up  of 
warlike  preparations,  not  actual  warfare,  which  in  the 
end  might  turn  out  to  be  disastrous  to  them,  too.  For 
everybody  assumed  there  would  be  a  brief  war,  and 
nobody  knew  what  its  consequences  might  be.  Unin- 
termitted  arming,  however,  without  war  itself  un- 
doubtedly was  more  in  accordance  with  capitalist  in* 
terests. 

At  the  same  time  the  agitating  done  by  the  press  did 
not  perturb  the  sound,  peaceable  sentiment  of  the 
French  people  to  such  an  extent  that  they  themselves 
wanted  war.  This  is  a  positive  fact,  of  which  there 


The  Cause  of  the  War  73 

can  be  no  doubt.  The  Germans  were  asked  to  believe 
that  the  revanche  of  the  French  was  so  extreme  that 
some  day  they  would  simply  come  and  attack  us.  Any 
man  with  the  least  little  experience  in  the  affairs  of 
the  world  knows  that  that  is  a  downright  untruth.  In 
spite  of  a  hundred  Alsace-Lorraines  we  Germans  could 
live  in  perfect  security  so  far  as  the  French  are  con- 
cerned. 

And  to  be  strictly  just  it  must  be  said  even  of  the 
French  government  that  it  kept  its  skirts  as  clear 
as  possible  of  the  doings  of  the  armament  interests.  It 
confined  itself  to  what  it  deemed  necessary  for  pre- 
serving the  country  from  a  sudden  attack.  Even  in 
the  final  days  before  the  war  it  was  the  French  gov- 
ernment's sole  endeavor  to  preserve  peace.  In  this  it 
went  to  the  utmost  limits  possible,  even  to  the  humilia- 
tion of  its  own  country,  withdrawing  its  troops  inland 
ten  kilometers  from  the  boundary  line  to  show  clearly 
that  it  never  intended  to  attack,  and  also  to  remove 
every  pretext  for  attack  by  Germany. 

Even  German  officers  testify  to  the  complete  divest- 
ment of  the  border  of  French  troops.  They  pene- 
trated far  into  the  country  and  even  occupied  French 
barracks  without  coming  upon  a  French  soldier. 

The  French  government  was  fully  conscious  of  the 


74    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

responsibility  it  bore  toward  its  own  people  and  the 
whole  of  humanity. 

Eussia's  attitude  to  Germany  had  remained  the 
same,  without  essential  change  for  years.  All  that 
happened  was  that  she  began  to  feel  a  desire — a  de- 
sire expressed  with  heat  by  some — that  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  new  commercial  treaty  she  should  be 
accorded  somewhat  less  unfavorable  terms  than  in  the 
previous  treaty.  The  too  great  dependence  of  Russia 
upon  the  German  market  was  felt  to  be  burdensome 
and  oppressive. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  a  part  of  the  Russian  na- 
tionalist press  tried  to  step  in  so  as  to  stir  up  passions. 
However,  the  attempt  met  with  little  success,  so  little 
indeed  as  to  be  hardly  worth  mentioning.  This  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  in  the  large  and  sparsely  popu- 
lated country  of  Russia  the  press  does  not  wield  as 
much  influence  as  in  Germany,  France  and  England 
and  has  not  the  importance  that  it  has  in  those  coun- 
tries. There  were  Germans  all  over  Russia,  and  they 
were  still,  as  before,  by  no  means  unwelcome. 

It  cannot  be  rightly  maintained,  therefore,  that 
there  was  a  feeling  of  irritation  against  Germany,  -or 
that  the  press  was  carrying  on  war  propaganda, 
which  is  all  the  more  remarkable  as  Germany's  hand 
in  Austria's  Balkan  policy  was  clearly  recognized. 


The  Cause  of  the  War  75 

Austria's  intentions  with  regard  to  Servia  neces- 
sarily aroused  Russia's  interest  to  the  highest  pitch, 
firstly,  in  Russia's  character  as  acknowledged  Slavic 
protector  of  the  menaced  southern  sister-state,  and, 
secondly,  to  guard  against  every  outlet  to  the 
Mediterranean  being  cut  off  by  the  action  of  Aus- 
tria. This  is  a  matter  vitally  affecting  Russia,  since 
both  in  trade  by  land  as  in  trade  across  the  Black 
Sea  it  is  very  largely  dependent  upon  the  good  will 
of  foreign  nations. 

So  it  is  obvious  that  Russia  would  try  to  find  an 
outward  passage  for  her  products  past  the  territory  of 
her  Slavic  brothers. 

That  is  why  Russia  has  repeatedly  threatened  Aus- 
tria with  mobilization.  And,  each  time  she  did  so, 
she  succeeded  in  achieving  her  purpose,  that  is,  in  re- 
straining Austria  from  subordinating  all  Balkan  mat- 
ters to  Austria's  own  interests  and  the  interests  of 
its  ally,  Germany.  Even  in  the  final  stages  before  the 
war  Russia  would  have  gone  no  further  than  mere  mo- 
bilization. How  little  the  Russian  government  was 
inclined  actually  to  go  to  war  may  be  deduced  from 
its  attitude  throughout  the  crisis  following  upon  Aus- 
tria's annexation  of  Bosnia. 

In  all  the  former  junctures  Russia  had  invariably 
mobilized,  but  never  attacked,  fearing  to  assume  re- 


76     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

sponsibility  for  the  world  conflagration  that  would 
inevitably  ensue.  She  mobilized  again  in  1914,  and 
this  time,  too,  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  curbing 
Austria  from  an  act  of  violence,  from  going  too  far 
with  little  Servia.  But  now  because  it  was  the  suc- 
cessor to  the  throne  that  had  been  murdered,  Austria 
held  the  highest  trump  card  and  was  determined  to 
make  a  clean  sweep  in  the  matter  of  Servia. 

According  to  the  Berlin  government,  it  is  to  Rus- 
sia's mobilization  against  Austria,  involving,  presum- 
ably, mobilization  also  on  the  German  frontier,  that 
we  owe  the  immediate  occasion  of  the  war.  And  Rus- 
sia's  mobilization,  the  Berlin  government  says,  was 
done  at  England's  instigation. 

This  can  convince  none  but  such  as  have  lost  all 
power  of  independent  judgment.  Any  man  who  does 
his  own  thinking  will  still  have  left  unanswered  in 
his  mind  many  questions  regarding  the  outbreak  of 
the  war. 

Why  did  not  the  German  government  leave  the 
odium  of  declaring  war  to  the  Russian  government? 
Even  a  man  totally  ignorant  of  the  conduct  of  war 
knows  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  the  speed  with 
which  a  German  and  a  Russian  mobilization  is  exe- 
cuted. Germany  could  quietly  have  gone  ahead  mo- 
bilizing as  much  as  she  pleased,  but  anything  more 


The  Cause  of  the  War  77 

than  that  she  should  have  relinquished  to  the  others. 

One  more  point  that  I  must  investigate  is  the  atti- 
tude of  our  own  government  and  the  motives  of  those 
circles  which  are  so  close  to  the  government  that  it 
is  impossible  to  tell  where  the  jurisdiction  of  the  one 
begins  and  that  of  the  other  ends.  It  is  actually  true 
that  because  of  the  governmental  system  obtaining 
mainly  in  the  controlling  state,  Prussia,  it  is  beyond 
one's  power  to  distinguish  between  them. 

The  people  themselves,  the  great  laboring  masses, 
as  a  factor  for  or  against  war,  may  be  left  out  of 
account.  They  wanted  the  war  as  little  as  did  the 
people  of  the  other  countries,  and  they  have  not  the 
least  to  do  with  it.  The  German  nation  as  a  whole 
is  behind  no  other  in  genuine  love  of  peace.  The 
nationalist  agitating  done  by  the  '  *  fatherland ' '  press, 
added  to  what  may  be  called  a  positively  criminal 
system  of  nationalist  education  of  the  young — a  con- 
stant merry-go-round  for  Germany 's  power  and  great- 
ness— has  yet  not  succeeded  in  exterminating  reason 
and  sense  in  the  German  masses,  even  though  it  al- 
most seemed  so  at  the  outset  of  the  war. 

We  can  determine  absolutely  who  it  was  in  Germany 
that  urged  war. 

Way  and  beyond  every  one  else  it  was  Prussian 
Caesarism,  that  power  which  pereeiveci  that  its  pacific 


78     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

reputation  was  gradually  turning  stale  and  that  mod- 
ern evolution,  brushing  past  it,  was  becoming  the  or- 
der of  the  day.  It  was  facing  the  doom  of  simply 
dropping  into  oblivion  some  day,  in  spite  of  its  ora- 
torical gifts. 

So,  having  nothing  more  to  hope  for  from  peace,  it 
wanted  to  step  into  the  limelight  again  by  other 
means,  and  it  believed  that  as  the  conqueror,  as  the 
"enlarger  of  the  Empire, "  it  would  once  more  shine 
forth  resplendent. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  Caesar  power  are  the 
Junkers.  They  are  the  real  props  of  the  throne,  and 
their  interests  are  absolutely  identical  with  the  in- 
terests of  the  Prussian  monarch. 

The  third  factor,  large  industry  and  capital  in 
general,  played  about  the  same  role  in  Germany  as  in 
the  other  belligerent  countries,  only  translated  into 
the  Prussian.  Their  responsibility  for  the  war  is  on 
the  whole  no  greater  than  the  responsibility  of  their 
colleagues  of  the  Entente. 

Among  all  the  states  involved  in  the  war,  autocracy 
and  Junkerdom  are  peculiar  to  the  Prussian  state, 
and  autocracy  and  Junkerdom  were  interested  not 
only  in  military  preparations,  like  the  armament  cap- 
ital, but  also  in  actual  war. 

It  is  from  war  alone  that  the  Junkers  derive  ad- 


The  Cause  of  the  War  79 

vantage.  It  is  only  in  war  time  that  they  really  pros- 
per. And  that  ij  why  we  have  war. 

These  purveyors  of  foodstuffs  to  the  enormous 
armies,  these  agrarians,  whose  monumental  unscrupu- 
lousness  and  strapping  egoism  know  no  bounds,  need 
the  war!  But  that  is  not  stating  the  whole.  An- 
other twig  has  sprouted  from  the  same  root  of  Jun- 
kerdom — the  military  caste.  And  the  military  caste 
also  wanted  and  needed  war.  The  military  caste  also 
was  eager  to  make  money  and  much  money.  And 
by  far  the  larger  part  of  the  millions  required  by  the 
war  finds  its  way  into  the  pockets  of  these  noble  gen- 
tlemen. While  the  people  sink  into  poverty  and 
utter  misery,  the  Junkers  enrich  themselves.  That  is 
why  this  war  is  the  war  of  Prussian  Junkerdom,  and 
is  scarcely  likely  to  end  so  long  as  the  Junkers  can 
make  money  out  of  it.  They  had  been  carrying  on 
their  preparations  long  beforehand,  and  for  years  it 
was  in  their  service  that  the  " fatherland"  press  had 
to  be  hammering  into  the  heads  of  the  people  the 
fiction  of  a  fatherland  threatened  and  sore  beset  by 
enemies. 

Had  Germany  not  had  this  feudal  caste  along  with 
their  chieftain,  but  only  the  armament  capitalists, 
like  the  other  nations,  we  should  not  be  having  war. 


80    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

No,  we  should  not.  Humanity  would  have  been 
spared  that  horror. 

When  the  military  caste  had  completed  its  prepara- 
tions and  was  ready  for  the  war  that  its  literary  rep- 
resentatives had  long  been  clamoring  for,  the  war 
began. 

The  vile  creatures  never  for  a  second  shrank  from 
bringing  down  upon  Germany  and  the  whole  world 
death  and  destruction,  poverty  and  destitution.  And 
as  for  the  great  "peace  Kaiser,"  he  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  his  loyal  triarians  on  their  predatory 
expedition.  That  was  self-understood. 

He  who  had  contributed  so  much  through  his 
senseless  speeches  to  incite  the  nations  against  one 
another  wanted  nothing  better  than  that  they  should 
chop  each  other  to  pieces  for  his  sake,  for  the  greater 
glory  of  his  dynasty  and  imperial  throne. 

And  that  is  the  true  cause  of  the  war.  The  last 
Hohenzollern,  the  last  representative  of  a  decayed 
monarchy,  is  fighting  for  his  existence,  and  along 
with  him  the  Junkers,  whose  life  and  death  are  linked 
with  his. 

He  is  sacrificing  the  whole  German  nation  for  his 
own  existence.  Walls  of  corpses,  streams  of  blood, 
oceans  of  tears  are  to  save  him  from  the  ideas  of  a 


The  Cause  of  the  War  81 

new  time  that  laugh  to  scorn  the  arrogant  assumption 
of  such  autocracy. 

He  and  his  Junkers  wanted  to  see  the  whole  of 
Europe  at  their  feet  forever.  Therefore  the  war! 
That,  in  the  last  analysis,  is  the  ultimate  cause  of 
the  war! 


XI 

THE  OPTIMIST 

"LONG  live  the  Optimist!  For  he's  the  Big 
Dunce." 

Of  course,  the  Optimist  always  has  been  with  us, 
but  the  war  has  made  him  shoot  up  to  his  full  de- 
velopment like  fruit  in  a  hot-house. 

No  clouds  of  envy  ever  darken  the  sunlight  of 
German  successes  in  his  eyes.  No  discordant  note 
ever  jars  upon  his  daily  rejoicings  over  German  vic- 
tories. The  banners  are  forever  flying  in  his  soul. 

The  victorious  German  arms  daily  assure  him  his 
gay  intoxication,  and  evenings  he  won't  leave  his 
table  at  the  cafe  until  he  can  take  a  few  fresh  Ger- 
man victories  home  to  bed  with  him  and  lie  upon 
them  softly  until  the  next  morning. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  he  is  a  prophet.  And 
what  a  prophet!  When  in  the  first  days  of  the  war 
you  discussed  its  duration  with  him,  it  was  amazing 
how  he  knew  the  very  date  of  its  glorious  conclusion. 

The  war  was  going  to  last  only  a  few  months,  in 
fact,  only  a  few  weeks.  "By  the  time  the  leaves  fall, 

82 


The  Optimist  83 

we  shall  be  back  home  again/'  all  our  enemies  will  be 
down  on  their  knees,  begging  and  whining,  and  every- 
thing we  set  out  to  do  will  have  been  accomplished. 
We  at  home  must  hurry  so  that  the  triumphal  arches 
are  sure  to  be  ready  against  the  return  of  the  victors. 

Nobody  doubted  the  truth  of  the  Optimist's  state- 
ment. He  proved  so  minutely  how  things  must  come 
about  in  this  very  way  and  how  every  other  eventu- 
ality was  utterly  excluded,  that  it  would  have  been 
a  pity  to  disturb  his  lovely  certainty  by  petty  skep- 
ticism. 

Our  magnificent  troops  would  make  short  work  of 
the  decadent  Frenchmen  and  the  English  mercena- 
ries, not  to  mention  the  corrupt  Russians,  who  were 
armed  with  nothing  but  clubs  and  had  to  be  driven 
forward  by  their  own  machine-guns. 

When  the  leaves  had  long  been  lying  on  the  ground 
and  there  was  not  the  least  sign  of  the  enemy's  de- 
feat or  the  end  of  the  war,  the  Optimist  forgot  all 
about  his  prophecy.  Of  course,  he  had  said  nothing 
of  the  sort.  All  he  had  said  was  that  the  war  would 
be  over  by  Christmas. 

But  that  was  a  sure  thing.  No  doubt  of  it,  the 
war  would  be  over  by  Christmas.  Hindenburg  him- 
self had  told  him  so.  The  Field  Marshal  had  re- 
plied to  an  enthusiastic  postal  sent  him  by  the  Op- 


84    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

timist  and  his  boon  companions  at  the  cafe  table, 
promising  to  have  the  Russians  completely  defeated 
by  Christmas  and  to  enter  Petrograd — I  beg  pardon — 
St.  Petersburg. 

After  Christmas  there  came  no  more  belated  proph- 
ecies. The  final  victory,  necessarily,  depended  upon 
the  strategical  and  tactical  position.  How  stupid, 
declared  the  Optimist,  were  the  people  who  thought 
they  could  say  definitely  beforehand  just  when  the 
war  would  end.  You  see  how  they  "got  left"  with 
their  foolish  prophesyings  ? 

But  what  you  could  tell  for  certain  was  that  once 
Warsaw  was  captured,  the  Eussians  wouldn't  go  on 
and  would  be  begging  for  a  separate  peace. 

But  after  the  fall  of  Warsaw  the  Russians — how 
odd! — kept  on,  anyhow.  So  all  the  other  Polish 
strongholds  had  to  fall,  too,  and  after  the  fall  of 
each,  the  Optimist  foretold  a  separate  peace  with 
absolute  certainty. 

After  Poland  came  Servia  and  Montenegro,  whose 
Prince  Mirko  actually  gave  the  Optimist  a  bit  of  sat- 
isfaction; but  unfortunately  the  prince's  papa  did 
not  agree,  and  the  peace  treaty  was  revoked. 

The  east  being  so  unsatisfactory,  the  Optimist 
turned  to  the  west.  Verdun  was  to  decide  the  final 
victory  in  our  favor. 


The  Optimist  8; 

' '  Once  we  take  Verdun,  the  French  are  checkmate. 
Anyhow,  they  have  nothing  but  children  of  ten  years 
and  upward  at  the  front.  The  younger  children  are 
in  military  training." 

The  Optimist  has  long  forgotten  Verdun.  Be- 
sides, he  doesn't  care  a  cent  whether  we  take  this  or 
that  worthless  place,  or  none  at  all.  We're  con- 
quering, and  victory  was  in  our  hands  long  ago.  But 
the  point  is  that  our  enemies,  who  don't  know  the 
first  thing  about  tactics  or  strategy,  haven't  the  sense 
to  realize  that  they're  beaten  to  a  frazzle. 

And  what  is  the  Optimist's  war  aim?  Deutsch- 
land,  Deutschland  uber  alles,  uber  alles  in  der  Welt. 

We  shall  dictate  peace  terms,  a  German  peace,  to 
our  enemies,  who  are  completely  crushed  militarily, 
politically  and  economically. 

In  spite  of  our  vast  superiority,  and  our  absoutely 
unqualified  victory,  we  will  show  how  magnanimous 
we  are.  We  can  afford  to  be  magnanimous,  we 
are  such  kind-hearted  creatures.  All  we  will  demand 
will  be  an  indemnity  of  150  billions  with  2  per  cent, 
rebate  for  cash,  and  guaranties  in  real  estate,  that  is, 
the  whole  of  Belgium,  and  a  strip  of  northern  Prance. 
Not  a  very  broad  strip,  no  broader  at  the  utmost  than 
to  Rheims,  and  extending  to  the  Atlantic  coast. 

But  "the  fatherland  must  be  enlarged."     Servia, 


86    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

Montenegro  and  Albania  will  bring  Germany  the  so 
long  desired  coastland  on  the  Mediterranean.  And 
with  that  we  shall  be  content,  that  is,  until  the  next 
war. 

A  German  Empire  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Med- 
iterranean. We  are  modest,  altogether  too  modest, 
because  in  return  for  our  marvelous  victories  we 
ought  to  have  much  more  territory — the  whole  of 
France  down  to  Nice  and  Monte  Carlo,  and  Great 
Britain,  now  thoroughly  humiliated.  But,  as  I  said, 
we  are  too  modest,  much  too  gentle  and  kind-hearted, 
we  dreamy  German  Michels. 

The  sweet-souled  Optimist  and  world-conqueror  is 
past  the  age  for  military  service  and  he  has  no  close 
relatives  in  the  trenches.  No  wonder  he  is  so  ready 
for  all  the  sacrifices  of  life  that  the  conquest  of 
Germany's  world-power  may  still  require. 

And  he  can  "hold  out/'  too,  because  he  was  care- 
ful to  have  the  right  ancestors.  A  ' '  premature ' '  peace 
would  be  a  serious  mistake. 

Much  he  cares  for  humanity  or  culture.  He  cannot 
see  that  these  things,  said  to  be  of  so  much  value  to 
mankind,  have  been  threatened  by  the  war.  He  can 
still  almost  always  get  his  beer. 

As  for  the  prosperity  of  the  masses,  which  some 
people  say  has  been  ruined,  why,  within  three 


The  Optimist  87 

months  after  the  end  of  the  war  it  will  have  recov- 
ered to  such  an  extent  that  every  skilled  laborer  will 
be  able  to  build  his  own  villa.  Because  business  in 
the  enemy  countries  needs  us  so  badly  and  is  so 
anxiously  awaiting  our  goods  that  buyers  are  already 
besieging  all  the  stations  at  the  borders  awaiting  the 
conclusion  of  peace  to  swarm  into  Germany  like  lo- 
custs and  carry  off  whatever  they  can  lay  their  hands 
on — of  course  upon  cash  payment. 

But  now,  supposing  things  should  not  turn  out  the 
way  the  Optimist  prophesied,  do  you  think  he  is 
going  to  notice  it?  I  think  not,  because  he's  an 
Optimist  and — ' '  Long  live  the  Optimist !  For  he 's  the 
Big  Dunce!" 


XII 
NATIONALISM 

NATIONALISM,  it  will  scarcely  be  denied,  has  become 
one  of  the  mainsprings  of  the  war. 

Only,  most  of  those  who  admit  the  truth  of  this 
statement  do  not  mean  their  own  nationalism.  "We 
really  have  none,"  they  say.  They  always  mean  the 
nationalism  of  other  countries. 

You  really  cannot  call  German  nationalism  by  that 
name.  It  isn't  nationalism  at  all.  It  is  sheer  patriot- 
ism, and  altogether  justified,  even  necessary  and  by 
no  means  dangerous  patriotism,  while  the  nationalism 
of  other  countries  is  very  bad,  being  in  reality  chau- 
vinism, and  therefore  detestable  and  also  highly  dan- 
gerous. 

Nationalism  finds  its  chief  mouthpiece  in  the  news- 
papers and  expresses  itself  in  a  thousand  different 
yet  always  intensely  disagreeable  ways,  stirring  up 
race  hatred  and  scolding  and  insisting  that  what  the 
nationalist  press  of  another  country  considers  the  good 
and  the  only  right  course  is  the  wrong  and  the  very 
worst  course. 

88 


Nationalism  89 

Since  the  large  influence  wielded  by  nationalism 
upon  the  relations  of  the  various  countries  is  an  es- 
tablished fact,  it  is  of  no  small  interest  to  consider 
the  nature  of  nationalism.  But,  by  way  of  change, 
we'll  consider  our  own  nationalism  for  once.  There 
are  plenty  of  German  pens  busying  themselves  with 
other  people's  nationalism.  Besides,  our  own  nation- 
alism, with  great  and  unnatural  modesty,  always  tries 
to  sail  under  false  colors  and  work  secretly,  in  the 
dark.  So  it  will  do  our  nationalism  some  good  to  be 
dragged  out  into  the  daylight  and  given  an  airing. 

Nationalism  in  Germany  is  of  highly  aristocratic 
lineage  and  its  connections  exceedingly  respectable. 
Monarchism  and  militarism  are  its  parents,  bureaucra- 
cy, its  brother.  The  members  of  the  family  all  sup- 
port one  another  and  confine  their  doings  to  a  nar- 
row enclosure.  The  public  schools  are  the  halls  where 
honor  is  done  the  German  princes. 

In  the  schools  we  learn  all  the  details — only  such 
details,  of  course,  as  are  fitted  for  the  ears  of  sub- 
jects— concerning  the  various  fathers  and  mothers  of 
the  country.  These  high  and  mighty  ones  shine  re- 
splendent, as  if  illuminated  by  a  Bengal  light,  and  in 
their  honor  fireworks  are  shot  off  into  the  air.  Most 
of  their  deeds  border  on  the  divine.  Miraculous  is 
their  goodness,  their  wisdom,  their  nobleness,  their 


90     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

bravery.  Not  a  ruler  among  them  who  ever  rose  later 
than  four  o  'clock  in  the  morning ;  and  he  always  kept 
strictly  at  his  task  of  ruling  without  even  stopping 
for  lunch,  so  close  to  his  heart  lay  the  welfare  of  his 
subjects.  And  sometimes  even  the  nights  were  dedi- 
cated to  the  good  of  the  people. 

Next,  at  a  great,  yet  proper  distance,  come  the 
achievements  of  the  nation.  These  by  far  exceed  the 
achievements  of  all  the  other  countries  taken  together. 
Unfortunately,  the  democratic  nations  leave  most  to 
be  desired.  Though  no  wonder,  since  the  administra- 
tions of  the  democracies  are  very  inferior  and  are 
run  chiefly  by  venal  lawyers  and  corrupt  politicians. 

Mingled  with  this  overestimation  of  one's  own  na- 
tion and  contempt  for  other  nations,  is  a  goodly  por- 
tion of  hatred  of  peoples  speaking  a  different  lan- 
guage. 

The  "fatherland  sentiment"  has  now  been  prop- 
erly implanted  in  the  children's  minds.  A  citizen 
brought  up  in  this  way  is  capable  of  anything.  He 
is  the  dupe  of  any  fraud  provided  it  has  "father- 
land" trimmings.  He  is  "loyal  to  the  Kaiser  to  the 
very  marrow  of  his  bones, ' '  which  indicates  a  certain 
softening  of  the  brain. 

Really,  the  "fatherland"  press  need  not  work  so 
hard  every  day  influencing  the  people's  minds.  It's 


Nationalism  91 

only  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure.  Because  very 
few  men  display  the  high  degree  of  independent 
judgment  required  to  rid  their  minds  of  the  wrong 
things  put  into  them  by  their  school  teachers  when 
they  were  children.  And  what's  the  use  of  thinking? 
It  gets  you  nowhere  and  only  gives  you  a  headache. 
Besides,  everything  will  stay  just  the  way  it  is  all 
the  same. 

The  government,  therefore,  has  nothing  to  fear 
from  the  serious  criticism  of  its  own  people.  More- 
over, the  government  is  so  excellent,  so  infallible,  that 
it  doesn't  need  any  criticism.  It  is  only  the  conduct 
of  the  other  governments  that  deserves  criticism,  and 
in  the  case  of  these  it  cannot  be  too  sharp,  because  out 
of  pure  maliciousness  they  behave  in  a  very  ugly,  un- 
just way  toward  the  innocent  German  government. 

To  harbor  a  sense  of  justice  or  decency  toward 
other  nations  is  a  grievous  wrong  bordering  on  high 
treason.  Nationalism  will  have  it  so  in  its  self-love 
carried  to  the  point  of  megalomania.  Love  of  one's 
own  country  is  synonymous  with  hatred  of  all  other 
countries.  To  be  logical,  a  man  who  loves  his  mother 
ought  to  hate  all  other  mothers. 

The  Germans  delight  in  reading  a  criticism  ap- 
pearing in  a  foreign  newspaper  against  its  own  gov- 
ernment or  its  own  people.  They  hunt  for  such  criti- 


92     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

cism  eagerly,  and  the  harsher  it  is,  the  truer  and 
better  worth  notice  they  take  it  to  be.  The  ordinary 
German  reads  black  on  white  a  nation's  avowal  of 
its  own  wickedness,  while  his  * '  fatherland "  papers 
so  pleasantly  dangle  before  his  eyes  the  picture  of 
his  own  country's  preeminence. 

This  unedifying  role  which  the  German  press  has 
been  playing  in  the  world  battle  of  invectives  and 
suspicions  that  the  nations  have  been  honoring  one 
another  with,  seems  to  have  assumed  a  sharper  and 
more  conspicuous  character  at  the  time  when  German 
enterprise  in  trade  and  industry  began  to  be  under- 
taken on  a  large  scale.  To  the  earlier  inspirers  of 
nationalism,  monarchism,  chief  of  all,  and  militarism 
and  autocracy,  a  fourth  was  now  added,  capitalism. 
It  devolved  upon  capitalism  always  to  keep  the  war- 
chest  full,  and  it  may  be  that  without  capitalism, 
nationalism  might  have  died  of  weakness  or  been 
killed  by  the  modern  internationalistic  development. 
Of  course,  there  has  been  nationalism  in  every  era 
and  in  every  country  in  which  the  despots  felt  the 
need  for  strengthening  their  own  positions  by  inciting 
race  hatreds.  Only  in  earlier  times  the  name  was  dif- 
ferent. It  was  called  particularism.  The  thing 
has  remained  the  same,  except  that  instead  of  tribes 
we  now  have  races. 


Nationalism  93 

The  identical  sort  of  mad  conflict  that  is  now 
engaging  the  world  once  took  place  within  Ger- 
many itself,  each  of  whose  separate  "father- 
lands" was  fighting  the  others  just  as  furious- 
ly as  the  nations  are  fighting  in  the  world-war  to- 
day. And  the  "practical"  politicians  of  that  time 
thought  it  just  as  Utopian  a  dream  to  reconcile  the 
many  clashing  interests  and  unite  all  the  heads  of 
the  various  fatherlands  into  a  single  confederacy,  the 
German  Empire,  as  many  people  think  it  is  now  to 
reconcile  the  antagonistic  interests  of  the  nations  of 
the  world  and  form  a  United  States  of  the  World. 

Merely  to  conceive  such  a  thing  was  demagogy. 
Why,  the  existence,  the  coronet  of  a  few  princes  was 
at  stake,  at  least  apparently;  and  that  was  no  joke. 
It  was  fairly  clear  that  one  or  the  other  of  the  dozen 
princes  and  rulers  would  get  run  over.  But  none 
of  them  wanted  the  accident  to  occur  to  him.  Each 
was  quite  willing  to  let  that  fate  befall  a  "friendly 
brother  and  cousin."  Finally,  evolution,  in  spite  of 
everything,  forced  the  unification  of  the  German 
states  into  a  confederacy.  To  all  appearances  it 
hasn't  done  their  majesties  and  highnesses  any  too 
much  damage.  It  was  the  chief  principle,  at  the  so- 
called  unification  of  the  German  nation,  that  as  little 
pain  as  possible  should  be  inflicted  upon  the  dynastic 


94    What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

interests,  and  even  the  steam-roller  Prussia  complied 
somewhat  with  this  principle  in  the  special  interests 
of  its  own  dynasty. 

In  all  the  revolutions  from  above,  the  welfare  or 
the  interests  of  the  people  have  had  no  voice.  The 
German  nation  at  that  time  was  without  the  suffrage, 
and  still  is  without  it.  But  slowly,  very  slowly  the 
page  must  turn.  The  German  people  must  see  at 
least  that  it  has  to  take  its  fate  into  its  own  hands  if 
its  object  be  not  to  adorn  existence  for  its  dynasties, 
but  to  make  its  own  life  at  all  tolerable.  The  world 's 
present  bloody  struggle  is  sure  to  open  the  people's 
eyes.  If  signs  do  not  altogether  deceive,  this  war  will 
seal  the  fate  of  the  European  dynasties  and  lead  to  a 
world  federation. 

For  in  the  last  analysis  the  cause  of  the  present  war 
is  this  very  same  endeavor  of  the  German  dynasties 
to  maintain  their  existence.  If  ever  their  fears  were 
justified,  they  certainly  are  now.  Hence  the  mighty 
efforts  of  a  nationalism,  as  it  were,  out-shrieking  it- 
self, to  nail  the  people  fast  to  monarchism  and  keep 
bellowing  in  their  ears  that  their  own  interests  are 
at  stake,  while  it  is  clear  as  the  day  that  it  is  only 
the  interests  of  the  dynasties,  not  his  own  interests, 
that  our  German  Michel  is  defending  with  his  life's 
blood. 


Nationalism  95 

Nationalism  could  not  help  but  drive  the  German 
people  into  the  slaughter  of  the  nations.  That  was 
the  inevitable,  ultimate  consequence  of  its  tendency. 
What  it  cannot  do  is  pull  them  up  again  out  of  the 
abyss  of  blood  and  corpses  into  which  it  has  plunged 
them,  if  only  for  the  one  reason,  that  it  will  scarcely 
survive  the  end  of  the  war. 

To  obtain  peace  the  German  people  will  have  to 
throw  nationalism  overboard,  along  with  those  from 
whom  it  receives  its  orders  and  along  with  all  the 
mediaeval  rubbish  of  dynasties  and  rulers  and  every- 
thing connected  with  them. 

The  monarchs  and  their  attaches  can  look  on  with- 
out a  quiver  of  pity  while  millions  shed  their  blood 
to  save  the  decaying  outlived  autocracy.  They  feel 
their  approaching  doom  and  try  to  resist  by  every 
means  in  their  power.  A  lot  is  at  stake  for  them,  and 
when  there  is  a  lot  at  stake,  tremendous  things  must 
be  done  to  save  it.  They  have  never  lacked  the  un- 
derstanding of  this  principle.  The  sums  of  money 
that  the  exploiters  of  the  present  juncture  spend  upon 
Jthe  nationalistic  press  are  indeed  ' '  tremendous, " 
It  costs  a  good  deal  to  manufacture  the  right  public 
opinion.  But  it  so  happens  that  the  interests  of  the 
armament  capitalists,  of  the  Prussian  agrarians,  and 
of  the  monarch  are  identical ;  and  this  harmony  of  in- 


96     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

terests  is  of  highly  gratifying  consequence  to  the 
"fatherland"  press. 

Will  all  these  strenuous  efforts  of  the  combined  in- 
terests be  able  to  delay  the  catastrophe  a  little  while 
longer,  or  not?  That  is  the  great  question.  It  is 
difficult  to  prophesy.  But  if  there  is  any  sense  in 
the  things  that  happen  in  the  world,  then  the  inno- 
cent blood  that  has  been  shed  and  the  tears  that  have 
been  wept  so  needlessly  will  now  turn  upon  those 
whose  hands  are  still  gory  from  all  the  slaughter. 
They  had  no  right  to  do  this  frightful  thing.  Self- 
seeking  so  befogged  their  minds  that  they  lost  all 
sense  of  responsibility  to  their  own  nation  and  to 
the  whole  of  mankind. 

So  down  with  them !  To  hell  with  the  vile  wretches ! 
The  German  nation  itself  must  prepare  the  fate  the 
monsters  deserve.  And  the  nationalism  that  they 
invented  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  dust  in  the 
people's  eyes  must  in  the  end  serve  to  open  the  peo- 
ple's eyes  and  show  how  nationalism  has  been  mis- 
used, hideously  misused,  beyond  all  example  in  the 
world's  history. 


XIII 
SECRET  DIPLOMACY 

Now  it  is  celebrating  its  triumph,  the  old  mole 
diplomacy  is.  Its  object  has  been  achieved.  It  has 
brought  about  the  world  conflagration  which  no  ra- 
tional man  had  any  longer  deemed  possible. 

Altogether  in  secret,  responsible  to  no  one  but  to 
him  who  is  responsible  to  none,  the  imperial  lord 
and  prince  of  peace,  as  he — ironically  enough — has 
often  dubbed  himself,  diplomacy  has  so  tangled  the 
threads  of  international  relations  that  there  was  no 
other  way  left  than  to  use  the  sword  and  cut  the 
Gordian  knot. 

Prussian  diplomacy,  under  the  leadership  of  the 
supreme  amateur  diplomat,  has  turned  out  its  mas- 
terpiece ;  by  which  I  mean  not  only  the  war  but  also 
its  leading  the  nation  by  the  nose  for  years  without 
their  observing  the  sanguinary  incapacity  of  their 
leaders. 

Naturally  we  learn  nothing  of  what  the  laymen's 
lack  of  skill  has  done  toward  preparation  for  the 
catastrophe  in  the  country.  It  remains  a  secret. 

97 


98     What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

But  when  the  cooks  had  finished  their  dish  and 
made  sure  that  nothing  could  be  undone,  a  few 
wholly  superfluous  telegrams  emanating  from  His 
Majesty  were  read  aloud  to  the  people.  They  made 
clear  to — every  idiot  the  snow-white  innocence  of 
Germany's  diplomacy  and  the  coal-black  guilt  of 
the  enemy's  diplomacy.  Telegrams  from  the  Kaiser 
himself!  What  condescension  to  make  them  known 
to  the  German  people!  Really,  a  needless  compli- 
ment. Telegrams  from  the  Kaiser's  valet  would  have 
done  just  as  well.  The  German  people  would  have 
been  just  as  ready  to  believe  the  valet  that  His  Majes- 
ty had  not  wanted  the  war. 

But  these  monarch  telegrams  are  a  wonderfully 
beautiful  supplement  to  the  monarch  meetings,  the 
monarch  kissings,  and  the  monarch  toastings. 

How  breathlessly  the  German  people  looked  on  to 
see  whether  the  Kaiser  accompanied  the  Czar  to  within 
two  or  three  yards  of  his  yacht,  or  whether  the  two 
monarchs  had  spent  a  half-hour  or  three-quarters  of 
an  hour  in  animated  conversation.  Trickery,  mere 
trickery ! 

Secret  diplomacy  had  never  before  credited  the 
people  with  any  capacity  whatsoever  for  understand- 
ing foreign  affairs  or  taking  part  in  them.  So  what 


Secret  Diplomacy  99 

a  remarkable  departure  now  from  its  general  prin- 
ciple! The  diplomats  now  credited  the  people  with 
the  ability  to  form  an  opinion  in  ten  minutes,  from 
the  mere  reading  of  four  or  five  telegrams,  regarding 
the  whole  diplomatic  situation  and  regarding  the 
question,  whether  or  not  there  should  be  war. 

Certainly  that  was  the  reason  for  publishing  the 
telegrams,  was  it  not  f  Otherwise,  they  might  just  as 
well  have  remained  secret,  as  did  all  the  other  docu- 
ments in  the  many  years  previous. 

Or,  perhaps,  the  ''peace  Kaiser"  was  to  be  made 
to  appear  an  even  more  radiant  angel  of  peace  than 
he  had  claimed  to  be  ?  Who  knows  ? 

Because  really,  in  a  matter  involving  the  life  and 
death  of  millions,  those  four  telegrams  could  no  long- 
er make  any  difference  one  way  or  the  other.  It  was 
all  the  same  whether  the  people  knew  or  did  not  know 
their  contents.  The  vote  of  each  individual  had  to 
stand  regardless  of  the  telegrams,  and  had  to  be 
whatever  secret  diplomacy  wished  it  to  be.  Let  any 
man  have  dared  to  speak  out  differently! 

In  home  affairs,  in  which  far  less  important  mat- 
ters are  dealt  with,  matters  that  in  a  greater  or  lesser 
degree — usually  lesser — affect  merely  the  well-being 
of  the  individual,  the  Reichstag  and  the  press  have 


ioo  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

ample  opportunity  to  become  acquainted  with  all  the 
pertinent  material,  and  learn  each  detail  so  as  to  be 
able  to  adopt  the  right  measures. 

Why  not  the  same  in  foreign  affairs  ?  Why  is  every- 
thing kept  secret  here  and  left  to  the  good  will  of  the 
"highest  command,"  which  keeps  those  politicians 
informed  who  carry  out  its  policy  so  that  they  may 
create  the  proper  "public  opinion"?  But  on  the 
whole,  the  " highest  command"  does  not  seek  its  aids 
according  to  ability,  from  among  all  suitable  classes 
of  the  people,  but  according  to  the  number  of  ances- 
tors and  the  pliability  of  the  spinal  column. 

No  matter  how  beastly  stupid  the  gentlemen  of 
long  lineage  may  be,  their  intellect  will  do  for  a 
secret  diplomat.  In  imperial  Germany  stupidity,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  seems  to  be  a  requirement  for  the 
diplomatic  profession,  to  judge  by  the  " successes"  of 
Prussian  diplomacy  throughout  the  world. 

Not  a  single  one  of  all  the  German  "diplomats" 
and  "statesmen"  was  put  in  his  position  because  of 
the  people 's  confidence  in  him.  The  man  ' '  responsible 
to  none"  had  summoned  them,  and  that  settled  it. 

It  is  to  such  a  company  of  irresponsibles  and  sim- 
pletons, then,  that  the  great  German  nation  entrusts 
its  fate,  entrusts  the  decisions  that  involve  the  lives  of 
millions. 


Secret  Diplomacy  101 

And  still  no  thunderous  cry  of  "Halt!"  has  ever 
been  shouted  to  these  incompetents!  Verily,  my  peo- 
ple, you  have  the  government  you  deserve. 


XIV 
"I  RECOGNIZE  NO  PARTIES  ANY  MORE" 

How  gracious  in  His  Imperial  Majesty,  how  mag- 
nanimous! He  recognizes  no  parties  any  more.  He 
recognized  them  when  it  suited  him  to. 

When  it  seemed  fitting  for  him  and  his  "divinely 
ordained ' '  officials  to  treat  them  as  men  of  the  second 
class  and  plague  and  worry  them,  he  recognized  par- 
ties very  well. 

But  now  that  he  needs  them  for  cannon-fodder,  for 
fuel  for  the  prodigious  holocaust  to  which  he  set  fire, 
lie  recognizes  no  parties  any  more.  I  wonder  whether 
he  still  would  not  recognize  them  if  he  came  out  with 
a  whole  skin  from  the  conflagration  now  consuming 
the  world,  if  he  once  more  succeeded  in  exercising  his 
beneficent  rule  as  "peace  Kaiser." 

I  should  be  willing  to  wager  ten  to  one  that  he 
would  instantly  recognize  them  again,  and  very  well, 
too — the  stupid  Moors  who  did  their  duty  and  now 
may  go. 

It  will  ever  remain  incomprehensible  to  non-Ger- 
mans that  the  men  to  whom  solely  the  Kaiser's  re- 

102 


"I  Recognize  No  Parties  Any  More"   103 

mark  applies  were  enraptured  at  his  not  recognizing 
them.  As  though  nothing  else  could  be  expected  of 
them,  they  were  promptly  trapped  by  the  simple 
promise  implied  in  the  sentence.  They  did  not  do  the 
one  thing  they  should  have  done — smile  upon  the 
Kaiser  coldly  and  disdainfully  and  repudiate  the 
profoundly  arrogant  assumption  sounding  in  every 
syllable. 

"We  object,"  is  the  reply  that  might  have  been 
expected  of  them.  But  nothing  of  the  sort.  Of  course 
not.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  as  happy  as  children 
whose  strict  father  rewards  them  for  good  conduct  by 
not  whipping  them.  Alas,  it  is  really  true  that  the 
party  whom  the  Kaiser  no  longer  recognized  behaved, 
not  like  men  who,  when  the  occasion  arises,  stand  by 
the  principles  they  have  sworn  to  a  thousand  times 
over,  but  like  mere  children. 

When  things  became  serious  and  the  Social  Demo- 
crats had  a  chance  to  prove  that  they  understood 
their  principles  and  could  be  true  to  their  convic- 
tions, they  instantly  forgot  everything  that  had  ap- 
peared in  their  organs  only  two  days  before  and 
gave  credence  to  the  base  lie  that  the  fatherland  had 
been  attacked. 

They  who  might  have  earned  the  thanks  of  all  man- 
kind failed  us  miserably. 


104  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

Why  should  the  Social  Democratic  Fraction  have 
hesitated  to  excite  His  Majesty's  displeasure?  Did  the 
working  class  elect  them  to  kelp  the  supreme  war-lord 
drag  the  workingmen  to  the  shambles?  Were  they 
not,  on  the  contrary,  set  up  as  representatives  of 
democracy,  as  a  living  negation  of  the  very  principle 
of  which  the  Kaiser  is  the  supreme  representative? 

They  let  everything  go,  all  their  proud  dogmas,  all 
their  resolutions  and  platforms.  They  became  mod- 
est. Instead  of  haughtily  repudiating  the  Kaiser's 
" recognizing  no  parties,"  which  was  wrung  from 
him  by  necessity,  and  so  remaining  true  to  themselves, 
they  were  quite  content  not  to  be  recognized  any 
more  by  their  imperial  lord. 


XV 

PRUSSIA'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

To  make  clear  all  the  factors  that  inevitably  led 
up  to  the  world-war,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  those 
aims  of  the  Prussian  foreign  policy  which  are  un- 
avowed  and  yet  in  a  historic  study  force  themselves 
upon  one's  notice.  Though  following  a  noiseless 
course,  they  have  long  been  apparent  and  are  fraught 
with  grave  consequences. 

Sometimes  they  were  temporarily  relegated  to  the 
background,  but  never  entirely  abandoned,  and  the 
underground  current  was  all  the  stronger  the  fainter 
the  ripple  on  the  surface. 

The  long  struggle  between  Austria  and  Prussia  for 
sovereignty  in  Germany  finally  ended  with  Prussia's 
triumph  and  the  forcing  out  of  Austria. 

The  South-German  states,  after  much  wavering 
between  Austria  and  Prussia,  went  over  to  Prussia. 
Even  France  sided  with  Prussia,  thinking  her  dy- 
nastic interests  would  thereby  be  best  safeguarded. 
For  in  Austria  as  well  as  in  France,  a  centralized 
government  had  developed  farther  than  in  Germany, 

105 


io6  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

where  such  a  development  had  been  hindered  by  the 
strengthening  of  the  Prussian  state.  This  was  de- 
cisive for  the  South-German  dynasties,  concerned  as 
they  were  each  with  the  preservation  of  its  own  su- 
premacy. 

Thus  Austria  was  cut  off  from  western  and  north- 
ern Europe.  And  in  the  south,  in  Italy,  the  Pied- 
montese  dynasty  exercised  an  ever-increasing  attrac- 
tion over  the  small  Italian  states;  which  contributed 
still  more  to  the  uncertainty  of  Austria's  position. 
Gradually  she  lost  all  her  possessions  in  the  south, 
too. 

Prussia,  then,  had  attained  its  object  for  the  present, 
which  was  to  weaken  Austria  only  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  shear  her  of  all  potentiality  for  danger.  It  had 
no  interest  in  weakening  her  still  further,  nor  in  in- 
curring her  permanent  enmity.  On  the  contrary, 
what  it  needed  was  an  Austria  reconciled  (with 
claims  in  the  north  and  west  abandoned),  because 
Prussia  now  cherished  much  wider  aims. 

She  had,  in  fact,  assigned  the  role  of  pace- 
maker to  Austria,  which,  of  course,  Austria  never 
suspected,  taking  for  magnanimity  what  was  purely 
cold-blooded  calculation. 

Prussia  could  kill  two  birds  with  one  stone.  A 
hostile  Austria  must  be  regarded  as  a  constant  men- 


Prussia's  Foreign  Policy  107 

ace  to  Prussia,  if  only  for  the  one  reason  that  she 
might  exercise  a  powerful  attraction  over  the  South- 
German  states  as  soon  as  she  would  guarantee  them 
the  independence  of  their  dynasties.  As  it  was,  the 
South- Germans  felt  more  drawn  to  genial  Austria 
than  to  uncanny  Prussia.  A  rapprochement  between 
Austria  and  the  South-German  states  would  have  at 
least  one  bad  result,  if  not  more,  namely,  that  it 
would  take  longer  and  be  harder  to  Prussianize  the 
South- German  states.  So  some  bait  had  to  be  held 
out  to  Austria  that  would  make  her  forget  the  west 
completely. 

Other  territories  had  to  be  held  out  to  her  which 
would  serve  to  satisfy  her  desire  for  expansion  and 
would  at  the  same  time  be  suited  to  play  a  role  in 
Prussia's  calculations  for  the  future. 

For  this  purpose  southeastern  Europe  seemed  posi- 
tively to  offer  itself.  The  structure  of  the  states  there 
was  loose  and  incomplete — different  from  in  Italy— 
and  it  beckoned  on,  though  still  as  to  a  remote  goal, 
to  access  to  the  Mediterranean.  A  compensation  in 
a  sense,  therefore,  for  the  losses  in  Italy  as  well  as 
in  the  north. 

For  the  Adriatic  could  too  easily  be  cut  off.  Aus- 
tria would  ultimately  have  to  own  territory  bordering 
directly  on  the  Mediterranean. 


io8  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

The  dear  Austrians,  of  course,  were  delighted  by 
such  kindness,  and  did  not  fail  to  put  the  proper  esti- 
mate upon  the  brilliant  perspective.  Evidently,  it 
never  occurred  to  the  Austrians,  because  they  are 
such  dear,  innocent  people,  our  dark-skinned  brothers 
are,  that  Prussia  was  in  secret  speculating  upon  Aus- 
tria's falling  to  pieces,  and  held  her  for  nothing  more 
than  a  pace-maker  in  its  own  race  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  counted  upon  acquiring  the  heritage  of 
the  Hapsburgs  whenever  the  time  should  be  ripe. 

In  the  Balkan  states,  however,  the  prospects  of  be- 
ing swallowed  up  by  Austria  naturally  aroused  alarm. 
Here,  too,  there  were  rulers  and  dynastic  interests,  as 
almost  everywhere  else  in  our  old  Europe.  But  that 
did  not  bother  Austria,  she  being  the  stronger  in 
every  way.  However,  the  Austrians,  after  their  genial 
fashion,  did  not  go  at  their  object  so  directly  or 
bluntly.  They  began  by  trying  friendly  bribery  of 
the  ever-needy  Balkan  princes;  and  they  had  some 
successes  to  record. 

Many  of  us  will  still  remember  His  Majesty  King 
Milan  of  Servia  as  a  gentleman  who  lived  and  let 
live.  Why  not?  He'd  be  dead  by  now  at  any  rate 
even  if  he  hadn't  taken  a  single  dollar  from  Austria. 
But  his  son  Alexander  was  far  less  reliable,  and  by 
the  time  the  Obrenovitch  dynasty  was  murdered  off 


Prussia's  Foreign  Policy  109 

and  gave  way  to  the  Karageorgevitch  dynasty,  the 
wind  was  blowing  from  a  different  quarter. 

The  Balkan  question  now  reached  an  acute  stage. 
King  Peter  had  been  brought  up  in  France  and  had 
imbibed  French  ideas.  His  government  turned  to 
France  and  to  her  ally,  Russia,  which,  being  a  Slav 
country,  was  decidedly  more  sympathetic  than  half- 
Teutonic  Austria.  Greater  and  greater  obstacles  thus 
kept  rising  up  on  the  road  to  the  Mediterranean. 

The  king  of  Montenegro  also  turned  more  and  more 
to  Russia.  Evidently  Russia  offered  better  guarantees 
for  the  continuance  of  the  two  Balkan  dynasties  than 
Austria  could  or  would  offer. 

Even  if  Russia  should  have  been  the  first  seriously 
to  dream  of  possessing  Constantinople,  she  would  not 
have  been  likely  to  begin  a  war  on  that  account.  Be- 
sides, opposition,  even  from  Rumania  and  Bulgaria, 
would  have  been  too  great.  Yet  Russia  felt  she  had 
to  have  access  to  the  Mediterranean.  The  preemi- 
nent economic  significance  to  her  of  an  outlet  to  the 
Mediterranean  is  self-evident.  And  what  it  would 
be  impossible  to  accomplish  by  way  of  a  hostile  Tur- 
key might  be  reached  by  way  of  friendly  Balkan 
states. 

It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  more  stood  in  the  way  of 
Austria's  expansion  in  the  southeast  than  merely  the 


no  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

isolated  Balkan  states.  The  great  and  powerful  Rus- 
sia would  also  have  something  to  say  whenever  the 
question  would  arise  of  a  change  in  the  Balkan 
status. 

And  it  was  not  Russia  alone  that  felt  a  watchful 
eye  had  to  he  kept  upon  Prussia's  outpost  on  the 
path  to  the  Mediterranean.  England  had  to  he  on  the 
lookout,  too.  England  had  to  safeguard  her  route  to 
India,  which  led  through  the  Mediterranean  and  the 
Suez  Canal. 

Austria  hy  herself  would  not  have  met  with  such 
decided  opposition  from  England.  But  in  London 
they  knew  very  well  who  was  hacking  Austria  up. 
They  were  convinced  that  at  the  decisive  moment,  were 
Austria  alone  to  be  reckoned  with,  an  eventual  un- 
derstanding just  to  both  sides  lay  in  the  realm  of  pos- 
sibility. There  was  no  such  confidence  with  regard 
to  Prussia.  Prussia's  tendency  always  to  use  force 
and  to  consider  no  interests  but  its  own  was  too  well 
known.  Aggressive  Prussianism,  therefore,  had  to 
be  kept  as  far  away  as  possible  from  England's  most 
important  sea  route. 

Thus,  common  interests  brought  England  and  Rus- 
sia together  after  they  had  come  to  an  agreement 
about  Persia.  England,  by  the  terms  of  the  agree- 
ment, no  longer  had  anything  to  fear  from  Russia  in 


Prussia's  Foreign  Policy  in 

the  Mediterranean;  and  a  further  guarantee  for  se- 
curity on  this  score  was  the  lack  of  aggressiveness  in 
the  Eussian  national  character.  Moreover,  Russia 
had  no  reason  for  a  policy  of  expansion  by  force  since 
it  had  land  in  superfluity  for  its  population. 

The  one  thing  Russia  needed  was  to  be  able  to  con- 
vey her  surplus  agricultural  products  to  the  sea. 

Consequently,  Russia  and  England  were  equally  in- 
terested in  preventing  much  change  of  hands  in  Bal- 
kan territory,  above  all  in  keeping  the  South-Slavic 
nations  from  slipping  into  too  great  dependence  upon 
Austria-Germany  or  being  absorbed  by  Austria  and 
Germany. 

One  line,  then,  of  Greater-Prussian  foreign  policy 
leads  to  the  southeast,  to  the  Mediterranean.  But 
another  line,  of  even  greater  significance,  leads  to  the 
west,  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Here,  though  the  distances  are  much  smaller,  the 
obstacles  are  far  bigger  and  harder  to  overcome. 
There  is  no  Austrian  pace-maker  here  to  take  over 
the  burden  of  the  more  difficult  work,  and  the  state 
lying  in  the  way  is  no  half -civilized  Balkan  state,  but 
a  state  inhabited  by  a  highly-civilized,  liberty-loving 
people,  who  long  realized  Prussia's  intentions  and 
took  the  utmost  possible  precautions  against  them. 

How  unqualifiedly  right  Belgium  was  in  distrust- 


ii2  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

ing  Prussia  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  very  first 
act  in  the  war  was  the  invasion  of  Belgium.  For  the 
ultimate  carrying  through  of  the  war,  Belgium  is  not 
much  more  important  than  Switzerland,  but  Bel- 
gium lies  in  Prussia's  path  to  the  Atlantic,  and 
Switzerland  does  not. 

The  attack  on  Belgium  descended  like  a  stroke  of 
lightning,  revealing  the  whole  situation  in  a  flash. 
The  object  of  the  war  and  Prussia's  war  aims  are 
now  as  clear  as  the  day. 

Nobody,  therefore,  who  does  not  want  to  be  de- 
ceived, can  possibly  be  misled  by  Bethmann-Holl- 
weg's  disgraceful,  dishonorable  statement  that  the 
Germans  were  obliged  to  invade  Belgium  because  Bel- 
gium itself  had  broken  the  neutrality. 

Belgium  knew  very  well  that  there  was  only  one 
side  from  which  she  might  be  attacked,  and  she  knew 
just  which  side  that  was,  and  she  also  knew  that 
sooner  or  later  the  attack  was  bound  to  come.  So 
she  had  a  perfect  right  to  fortify,  and  it  is  absurd 
to  say  Belgium  broke  her  own  neutrality.  No  well- 
informed  man  believes  this  monumental  lie  of  the 
leader  of  Prussian  politics. 

And  it  goes  without  saying  that  England  must  pro- 
tect Belgium's  neutrality  if  her  own  tranquillity,  yes, 
if  her  very  existence  is  dear  to  her. 


Prussia's  Foreign  Policy  113 

Simply  recall  William  II 's  various  utterances  and 
the  various  hymns  of  hate  that  have  been  chanted 
against  England,  and  you  will  understand  what  a 
delightful  neighbor  William  with  the  Mailed  Fist 
would  be  to  England,  were  he  to  establish  himself  in 
Belgium.  A  rather  restless,  disturbing  neighbor,  with 
his  insatiable  imperialism  and  militarism  and  marin- 
ism,  this  supreme  war-lord. 

With  William  as  her  neighbor  England's  security 
would  be  so  constantly  menaced  and  the  country 
would  be  so  irretrievably  swept  into  militarism  that 
we  may  well  believe  England  if  she  maintains  that  the 
question  of  peace  is  not  open  to  discussion  unless  Bel- 
gium is  altogether  free  and  independent. 

She  would  rather  go  on  fighting  to  her  very  de- 
struction. An  end  in  horror  is  better  than  horror 
without  end. 

So  we  have  seen  what  the  goal  is  of  the  Greater- 
Prussian  foreign  policy — a  single  empire  of  the 
Hohenzollerns  from  the  Atlantic,  or  at  least  the  Eng- 
lish Channel,  on  the  west  to  the  Mediterranean  on  the 
southeast,  with  Turkey  annexed.  An  Antwerp-to- 
Bagdad  empire! 

But  the  civilization  of  the  world  has  advanced  too 
far  for  champions  not  to  be  found  capable  of  pre- 
venting such  violent  changes  of  the  map. 


H4  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

The  objects  of  the  Greater-Prussian  policy  will 
never  be  attained  —  to  humanity's  great  blessing.  But 
they  will  become  the  doom,  and  the  proper  doom,  of 
the  man  who  thought  the  time  had  come  when  he 
could  set  his  heel  on  the  world's  neck.  William  II 
will  gain  nothing  but  lose  everything. 


XVI 
NATIONAL  HYSTERIA 

THE  second  district  court  of  Munich  condemned  an 
old  peddler  woman  to  imprisonment  for  having  thrown 
a  pear  to  Russian  prisoners  as  they  were  being  led  by. 

The  entire  apparatus  of  the  royal  Bavarian  tri- 
bunal with  prosecuting  attorney,  judges,  clerks,  etc., 
was  brought  to  bear  upon  this  case  of  a  little  old 
woman  whose  only  crime  was  having  preserved 
enough  human  compassion — at  any  rate,  considerably 
more  than  the  highly-educated  prosecuting  attorney, 
judges,  clerks,  etc. — to  give  a  little  pleasure  to  poor, 
half -starved  captives. 

A  whole  series  of  eminent  personages  connected 
with  the  Bavarian  department  of  justice,  who  draw 
their  salaries  from  the  pennies  paid  in  taxes  by  the 
people,  probably  for  more  important  ends,  had  to 
hold  sessions  and  transact  a  quantity  of  business,  all 
for  the  purpose  of  finding  a  verdict  in  a  trifling  case, 
which  a  single  Prussian  sergeant  could  have  disposed 
of  just  as  well. 

As  though  that  were  not  enough,  higher  Bavarian 
115 


ii6  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

judges  confirmed  the  verdict,  and  it  was  even  pub- 
lished in  the  papers.  This  confirmation  was  the  very 
thing  to  set  forth  in  the  best  possible  light  the  great 
love  the  judges  of  Bavaria  bear  to  their  fatherland. 

For  it  is  only  from  the  "fatherland"  standpoint 
that  a  purely  rational  feeling  of  compassion  for  help- 
less men  could  be  branded  as  a  transgression  of  the 
law,  as  a  crime. 

Of  course,  the  reason  the  little  old  woman's  con- 
duct was  criminal  is  that  she  had  wanted  to  do  a 
kind  thing  to  Russians  in  Germany.  Let's  consider 
the  reverse  of  the  case.  Suppose  a  little  old  woman 
had  been  kind  to  Germans  in  Russia.  Something  of 
the  like,  it  is  said,  often  happens.  And  suppose  the 
Bavarian  judges  had  been  called  upon  to  pronounce 
judgment.  Then  what?  Why,  then  the  crime  would 
have  been  no  crime,  but  a  perfectly  natural  act  of 
neighborly  love.  0  Justice ! 

If  to  "judge"  still  means  to  render  a  just  sen- 
tence, then  the  judges  who  found  this  verdict  of 
guilty  and  emphasized  it  in  the  deepest  tones,  have 
no  right  to  the  honorable  title  of  judge.  They  are 
hysterical  nationalists,  chauvinists  pure  and  simple. 
Had  they  preserved  the  qualities  required  of  a  judge 
in  all  circumstances,  sound  reason  and  impartiality, 


National  Hysteria  117 

they  never  could  have  condemned  the  little  old  ped- 
dler woman. 

It  would  have  sufficed  for  the  il  justice "  of  even  a 
military  tribunal  simply  to  call  the  old  woman's  at- 
tention to  paragraph  so  and  so  of  the  military  code, 
which  forbids  people  in  Germany  to  obey  the  kindly 
dictates  of  their  hearts,  and  to  show  her  that  she  had 
transgressed  the  mandates  of  this  paragraph,  and  tell 
her  she  mustn't  do  so  again,  because  if  she  does, 
then  she  will  be  punished. 

That  is  what  Bavarian  judges  and  human  beings 
should  have  done  and  ought  always  to  do,  and  both 
" justice"  and  common  sense  would  have  been  sat- 
isfied. 

For  not  the  strictest  of  Prussian  regulations  could 
force  a  Bavarian  judge  to  render  judgment  contrary 
to  all  reason  and  to  every  humane  sentiment — pro- 
vided, please  observe,  that  he  doesn't  want  to. 

As  for  the  rest,  need  our  Bavarian  judges  care 
whether  they  carry  out  these  vicious  laws  of  the 
Prussians,  a  mockery  of  civilization  ?  Need  they  cloak 
Prussian  brutalities  with  their  title? 

I  think  not,  and  I  am  convinced  that  ways  and 
means  can  be  found  of  repudiating  Prussia's  bar- 
barous impositions,  provided  we  in  Bavaria  have  still 
retained  enough  clearness  of  perception  to  realize  the 
full  monstrosity  of  such  a  thing  as  imprisoning  a 


ii8  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

little  old  peddler  woman  because  her  heart  went  out 
to  hungry  men. 

However,  there  is  no  need  to  fear  repudiation  of 
methods  Prussian  just  yet.  My  fatherland,  don't 
worry.  Our  Bavarian  judges  have  turned  into  hys- 
terical nationalists,  of  whom  the  Prussians  may  ex- 
pect even  greater  things  than  the  punishment  of  char- 
ity by  imprisonment. 

What  will  later  times  have  to  say  of  such  judicial 
sentences?  What  word  of  condemnation  will  be 
strong  enough  ? 


XVII 
LIBERTY 

A  TINY  group  of  Social  Democrats  is  fighting  a 
desperate  battle  with  the  Junkers  in  the  Reichstag. 
You  may  almost  say  it  is  only  a  single  individual, 
Dittmann,  who  is  carrying  on  the  struggle.  He  even 
has  against  him  the  majority  of  his  comrades  of  the 
parliamentary  Fraction.  And  what  are  he  and  his 
small  minority  battling  for?  Nothing  but  a  few 
ridiculously  limited  liberties. 

This  handful  of  Social  Democrats  led  by  Dittmann 
is  attorney  for  65,000,000  people,  who  lie  prostrate 
on  the  ground,  the  spiritual  life  completely  crushed 
out  of  them.  It  is  advocating  measures  whereby  the 
outraged  German  people  may  at  least  open  their 
mouths,  at  least  be  allowed  to  let  out  a  yell  of  shame 
and  anguish. 

In  vain.  The  Reichstag  stuffs  its  ears  and  reduces 
the  tiny  minority  to  silence.  The  Reichstag  is  not  to 
be  won  over  to  the  idea  of  removing  the  censorship 
gag  from  the  people's  mouths  or  raising  the  veritable 
state  of  siege  into  which  the  people  have  been  put. 

119 


120  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

An  eloquent  instance,  this  ''representation  of  the 
people/'  of  the  fact  that  the  greater  number  of  Ger- 
mans do  not  know  what  it  means  to  want  liberty.  It 
shows  how  thoroughly  the  Prussian  mailed  fist  has 
choked  out  every  bit  of  feeling  for  liberty. 

There  are  many  more  proofs  of  this  condition  of 
affairs,  so  unworthy  of  a  great  nation.  But  no  need 
to  go  to  the  trouble  of  citing  them.  Suffice  it  to  recall 
that  the  Prussian  people  are  still  without  the  vote. 

The  debates  in  the  Reichstag  over  Germany's  state 
of  siege  have  easily  done  more  than  any  one  other 
thing  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  world  to  our  utter  lack 
of  freedom.  Does  it  make  us  ashamed  of  ourselves 
before  the  other  civilized  nations?  A  Chinaman  as- 
suredly would  be  ashamed.  Not  so  a  German. 

There  is  not  a  chord  in  the  modern  German's  soul 
that  could  be  made  to  quiver  responsive  to  the  word 
"liberty."  If  you  mention  liberty  to  a  German,  you 
find  about  as  much  comprehension  as  if  you  were 
talking  to  a  blind  man  of  color.  Sometimes  he  an- 
swers back,  "Why,  we're  not  locked  up  in  prison. 
We  may  walk  about  at  large." 

The  Eeichstag  refuses  to  raise  the  state  of  siege. 
It  apprehends  the  open  outburst  of  wrath  of  the  la- 
boring masses.  It  takes  for  granted  that  the  masses 
will  instantly  arise  against  their  oppressors. 


Liberty  121 

The  Reichstag  is  in  error.  The  people  born  in 
the  yoke  of  Prussian  slavery  and  too  well  accustomed 
to  it  would  never  think  of  such  a  thing.  If  they 
were  disposed  to,  they  would  have  revolted  long  ago 
in  spite  of  their  state  of  siege.  A  prerequisite  to  a 
revolt  is  a  sense  of  the  indignity  of  slavery.  The 
German  people  have  no  such  sense.  They  sucked  in 
the  spirit  of  slavery  with  their  mothers'  milk.  It  was 
drummed  into  them  in  school,  and  every  ideal  of 
liberty  that  a  good  Creator  has  implanted  in  each 
human  breast  has  withered  in  them  long  ago. 

And  yet  this  poor  German  nation,  bent  down  to 
the  ground  under  the  yoke  of  oppression,  was  not 
always  so  servile.  One  opens  one's  eyes  in  amaze- 
ment when  one  learns  from  Dittmann's  speeches  in 
the  Reichstag — and  from  one's  own  recollections  of 
history,  too — that  we,  too,  once  were  a  nation  that  had 
something  like  a  sense  of  the  dignity  of  freedom  and 
human  rights.  That  was  after  the  revolutionary  year 
1848.  But  don't  be  alarmed.  It  wasn't  very  dan- 
gerous, that  German  revolution.  Yet  it  was  some- 
thing. 

And  actually,  yes,  actually,  that  bit  of  '48  was  in 
itself  enough  to  drive  red  terror  into  the  hearts  of 
the  despots.  They  promised  everything  and  anything 
the  people  wanted.  The  victory  was  an  easy  one 


122  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

after  other  nations  had  gone  before  wrestling  hard 
for  freedom.  After  the  French  had  shed  their  blood 
not  for  themselves  alone,  but  for  us,  too,  for  all  hu- 
manity, the  fruits  of  their  endeavors  fell  into  our 
laps  without  our  having  to  take  much  pains. 

A  bit  of  a  disturbance,  a  few  inflammatory 
speeches,  a  few  trials  and  imprisonments,  and  the 
people  got  their  freedom — such  as  it  was.  It  was  not 
achieved  with  huge  difficulty. 

And  while  other  nations  knew  how  to  defend  the 
liberty  they  had  so  dearly  won,  and  maintain  it  in 
spite  of  reactionary  blows,  and  achieve  an  even 
larger  measure  of  rights,  the  German  nation  allowed 
its  easily  acquired  liberties  to  be  stolen  from  it  one 
by  one,  stealthily,  secretly,  as  things  are  stolen  by 
a  thief  in  the  night,  until  gradually  it  succumbed 
so  far  that  it  was  ripe  for  the  state  of  siege  of  1914 
and  has  been  suffering  that  condition  now  for  years. 
Like  a  flock  of  sheep. 

The  German  nation  never  perceived  its  losses  in 
liberty  and  dignity.  It  still  remains  unconscious  of 
them.  Why  not?  The  people  are  not  locked  up  in 
prison.  They  may  walk  about  at  large. 

So  dulled  have  the  people  become  that  they  take 
this  state  of  siege,  this  orgy  of  oppression  exercised 
by  Prussian  militarism  gone  mad  with  megalomania, 


Liberty  123 

as  a  perfect  matter  of  course.  As  long  as  the  Prus- 
sian military  caste  desires  its  continuance,  so  long 
will  they  submit  to  it. 

The  people  hear  their  great  Prussian  general  boom- 
ing, "We  are  the  Reichstag,  we  are  the  chancellor, 
we  are  the  power  of  the  state, ' '  and  they  see  nothing 
in  it  that  isn't  quite  the  right  thing.  What  more 
need  be  asked  of  the  people?  They  are  even  sacri- 
ficing themselves  for  the  perpetuation  of  such  a  state 
of  affairs. 

So  we  are  perfectly  justified  in  asking,  Is  the  Ger- 
man nation  at  all  qualified  to  be  free  ?  Is  it  fit  to  rule 
itself?  Will  it  ever  become  free  or  know  what  free- 
dom is?  Who  will  answer  these  questions?  And  if 
by  some  miracle,  the  wish  for  liberty  should  ever  stir 
in  the  German  breast,  who  will  show  the  people  the 
way  that  leads  to  liberty?  The  German  government? 
The  government  that  has  robbed  the  people  of  all 
sense  of  freedom,  has  corrupted  them  from  childhood 
and  has  trampled  upon  every  generous  growth;  the 
government  whose  incapacity  for  doing  anything  but 
oppress  and  suppress  is  positively  grotesque?  Are 
we  to  suppose  that  this  government  will  point  the 
way?  May  we  hope  that  it  will  of  itself  abandon  its 
successful  maxim,  "Stand  straight,  keep  your  mouth 
shut,  and  pay  taxes"?  Certainly  not.  It  has  de- 


124  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

rived  splendid  profit  from  the  application  of  the 
maxim.  But  if  not  the  government,  then  who  will 
come  to  the  rescue?  Can  those  people  help  the  German 
nation  who  have  been  in  the  outside  world  and  know 
what  liberty  is  and  who  behold  with  deep  sorrow  the 
shameful  degradation  of  the  German  nation? 

They  have  not  much  strength.  And,  besides,  they 
will  be  allowed  no  opportunity  to  enlighten  the  Ger- 
mans. On  the  contrary,  they  will  be  reduced  to  si- 
lence. 

Or  may  we  hope  that  after  all  succor  will  rise  up 
from  out  of  the  people  themselves,  that  the  nation 
will  pick  itself  together  and  tear  the  blinkers  from 
its  eyes  and  stretch  out  its  arms?  That  the  millions 
tortured  by  misery  and  starvation  will  look  about 
and  search  out  those  who  have  been  the  real  authors 
of  their  misfortunes?  That  they  will  recognize  the 
fraudulent  oppressors  and  will  raise  their  fists  and 
fell  them  to  the  ground? 

It  seems  impossible  to  expect  anything  of  the  sort 
from  a  nation  that  will  take  anything,  yes,  anything, 
without  a  murmur. 

Every  one  longs  for  peace,  and  no  one  thinks  of  how 
easy  it  would  be  to  secure  peace  if  only  the  people 
went  at  it  in  earnest.  Nothing  more  than  just  a  lit- 
tle bit  of  '48.  How  quickly  the  despots  would  begin 


Liberty  125 

to  tremble  and  see  that  it  is  high  time  to  conclude 
peace. 

As  it  is,  however,  they're  not  in  a  bit  of  a  hurry  to 
make  peace,  even  though  they  pretend  differently. 
They  are  not  losing  anything  by  the  war,  and  no  mat- 
ter how  long  the  war  lasts,  they  can  hold  out,  oh, 
most  assuredly  they  can. 

As  long  as  the  people  are  satisfied  to  let  the  war 
go  on,  it's  all  right  for  the  oppressors. 

Ah  yes,  if  only  the  German  people  could  bethink 
themselves  that  once  in  their  history,  too,  there  was 
a  '48 !  Yes,  if  only  they  could ! 


XVIII 
"GO  FOE  THE  ENEMY!" 

NOTHING  so  vividly  recalls  those  delightful,  oh,  so 
delightful,  innocent,  peaceful,  pre-war  days  as  this 
valiant  battle-cry  of  "our  young  marines, "  "Go  for 
the  enemy !" 

Those  days  when  there  was  as  yet  no  danger  in  ' '  go- 
ing for  the  enemy,"  when  you  could  board  a  vessel 
and  steam  out  to  meet  him  on  the  high  seas  any  time 
you  felt  like  enjoying  the  ocean  breezes. 

The  noble  Tartarin  de  Tarascon  could  not  have  de- 
vised a  prettier,  more  daring  battle-cry.  Had  he 
emanated  from  Berlin  instead  of  Tarascon,  you  might 
have  heard  him  at  his  lion-hunts  shouting,  "Go  for 
the  enemy!" 

Unfortunately  the  author  of  this  battle-cry  is 
shrouded  in  obscurity.  Apparently  his  extreme  mod- 
esty forbids  his  stepping  out  of  the  dark  and  receiving 
the  hearty  thanks  of  his  favored  fatherland.  But 
one  can't  be  going  very  far  out  of  the  way  if  one 
looks  for  him  in  the  proximity  of  the  sublime  author 
of  that  glorious  inspiring  battle-cry,  "Immer  feste 

126 


"Go  for  the  Enemy!"  127 

druff . ' '  *  He  is  spirit  of  his  spirit,  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  we  owe  our  incomparable  victories  in  a 
large  measure  to  these  stirring  cries. 

Like  our  ancestors,  the  ancient  Germans,  who  had 
battle-cries  so  awe-inspiring  that  they  froze  the  mar- 
row in  the  enemies'  bones,  our  ' ' field-greys "  and 
"boys  in  blue"  are  also  well  equipped  with  cries, 
which,  we  may  assume,  make  our  enemies  turn  stiff 
with  awe  at  the  fearful  beauty  of  the  German  lan- 
guage. 

Our  admirals  keep  insisting  obstinately — and  they 
seem  to  be  right,  unfortunately — that  our  "boys  in 
blue ' '  have  no  opportunity  to  "go  for  the  enemy. ' ' 

The  enemy  doesn't  show  up,  simply  doesn't  show 
up — just  where  we  should  like  him  to.  He  goes 
prowling  round  in  all  the  waters  and  simply  can't 
be  found. 

He  seems  utterly  to  lack  courage  and  apparently  is 
avoiding  an  encounter.  Otherwise  he  would  not  be 
roaming  over  the  whole  globe  with  the  exception  of 
the  one  place  where  the  mines  have  been  laid  for 
him. 

If  the  enemy  were  not  so  frightfully  timid,  he 
would  approach  our  harbors.  Then  we  should  let  our 

*  A  curt,  idiomatic,  slangy  expression,  meaning,  "Always  go 
at  them  hard,"  of  which  the  Crown  Prince  is  the  author. 


ia8  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

"boys  in  blue"  loose  on  him,  and  after  our  mines 
and  U-boats  had  made  him  turn  tail,  we  should  let 
them  "go  for"  him. 

Then  would  our  sailors  show  the  enemy  the  stuff 
they're  made  of,  the  spirit  that  animates  them.  Then 
would  they  pluck  the  laurels  of  victory. 

The  enemy,  of  course,  maintains  that  it  is  our  navy 
which  doesn't  let  itself  be  seen  on  the  high  seas  and 
keeps  hugging  the  harbors,  stowed  safely  away  behind 
the  protection  of  the  mines,  like  a  mouse  in  its  hole. 
A  lie,  a  downright  lie!  Don't  our  U-boats  venture 
forth  to  bold  combat  often  enough,  keeping  way  be- 
low the  surface  of  the  sea? 

Have  they  not  displayed  incomparable  heroism  in 
sinking  hundreds  of  unarmed  merchant  and  passen- 
ger vessels  and  sending  women  and  children  to  be 
food  for  the  fishes  ? 

Have  they  not  drowned  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
bales  of  wool? 

And,  oh,  yes!  I  mustn't  forget.  Haven't  they 
sent  a  few  enemy  battleships  to  the  bottom,  too?  Our 
enemies  say  they  have  not  and  declare  that  the  battle- 
ships are  lying  at  the  docks  unscathed.  But  every- 
body knows  the  enemy  always  lies,  while  we  never  do. 

There  are  excellent  satires,  but  reality  is  better 
than  the  best  of  them.  Isn't  it  a  good  satire  when  a 


"Go  for  the  Enemy!"  129 

representative  of  the  press,  the  "  fatherland "  press, 
of  course,  is  invited  down  to  the  docks  to  see  with  its 
own  eyes  that  the  ships  costing  millions  of  dollars 
are  still  there  and  have  not  been  sunk  in  secret  by  the 
English  without  the  public's  knowing  anything  about 
it?  The  newspaper  men  can  check  them  off  and  go 
back  and  give  the  honored  public  a  true  report.  The 
land-lubbers,  flattered  and  touched,  always  write  what 
the  tars  think  it  is  advisable  to  tell  them. 

They  are  always  tremendously  impressed  by  what 
the  naval  heroes  have  to  say.  And  the  naval  heroes 
must  find  them  an  extremely  gratifying  audience,  ig- 
norant as  they  are  of  the  meaning  of  starboard  and 
larboard  and  all  the  other  delightful  nautical  terms. 

It  is  the  newspaper  man's  mission  to  instruct  the 
public,  which  is  somewhat  taken  aback  by  the  re- 
markable role  the  navy  is  playing.  He  is  to  tell  the 
public  that  the  money  expended  upon  the  fleet  has 
been  well  applied  and  each  taxpayer  has  got  his  dol- 
lar's worth  back  in  what  is  lying  at  Kiel  and  Wil- 
helmshafen. 

Only  "fatherlandless"  cavilers  could  conceive  the 
insolent  idea  that  a  fleet  of  battleships,  whose  entire 
activity  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  consists  in 
lying  in  the  harbors  in  a  state  of  ' '  feverish  readiness ' ' 


130  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

consuming  coal,  may  not  be  worth  much  more  than 
the  bad  German  of  the  battle-cries. 

It  is  only  ' '  f atherlandless "  cavilers  who  would  be 
impudent  enough  to  think  that  a  fleet  costing  bil- 
lions of  dollars  was  built  for  the  purpose  of  attacking 
England  the  hated,  attacking  her  openly  and  hon- 
orably; not  for  the  purpose  of  lying  in  harbors  be- 
hind barriers  of  mines  in  ' l  feverish  readiness. ' '  True 
German  patriots  know  very  well  it  is  not  the  costly 
battleships  that  are  protecting  Germany  against  at- 
tack by  the  English,  but  the  far  cheaper  mines.  The 
battleships  themselves  would  probably,  in  the  twink- 
ling of  an  eye,  be  lying  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

That's  what  our  admirals  must  think,  or  else  they 
would  send  the  fleet  out  "to  go  for"  the  enemy. 

It  actually  seems  as  though  all  the  ironclads  were 
built  chiefly  to  escort  William  II  on  his  pleasure-trips 
to  the  Mediterranean  or  the  Norwegian  coast,  and 
have  to  be  kept  safe  in  haven  during  these  uncertain, 
dangerous  war  times  until  the  imperial  lord  is  ready 
to  use  them  again. 

For  all  the  German  battleships  that  were  not  in 
haven  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  have  long  been 
resting  from  their  labors  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 
Of  course,  only  because  of  the  enemy's  vastly  su- 
perior strength.  In  reality  our  sailors  were  victorious. 


"Go  for  the  Enemy!"  131 

Besides,  it  was  an  outrage  to  attack  our  battleships. 

Has  England,  the  enemy  against  which  our  "boys 
in  blue"  were  to  proceed  so  valiantly,  noticed 
anything  at  all  of  the  existence  of  a  German  sea- 
power?  Not  much,  it  seems.  England,  now  as 
before  the  war,  still  "rules  the  waves,"  in  spite  of 
the  U-boats,  those  little  thugs  which  all  in  all  can't 
hurt  England  any  more  than  a  pike  can  hurt  a  whale. 

Probably  the  pompous  announcement  of  the  U-boat 
warfare  was  designed  less  for  effect  upon  England, 
the  mistress  of  the  seas,  than  for  effect  upon  the  re- 
freshing simplicity  of  the  German  land-lubber,  who 
was  to  be  inspired  with  proper  respect  for  the  ' '  nerve- 
racking,  feverish"  activity  of  the  naval  authorities. 

And  how  about  the  "great  naval  victory"  in  the 
Skager-Rack?  One  more  such  victory,  and  we  are 
lost. 

Alas,  His  Majesty  now  has  fewer  dreadnaughts  to 
escort  him  on  his  pleasure-trips.  I  have  always  said 
it  doesn't  pay  to  be  so  reckless. 

But  how  could  we  help  ourselves  ?  Something  had  to 
be  done.  There  was  always  the  risk  of  the  Social 
Democrats  not  voting  more  millions  for  war-credits, 
unless  there  was  something  to  show  for  money  already 
spent. 

The  land  operations  were  not  going  right.    The  bat- 


132   What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

tie  about  Verdun,  for  which  the  last  appropriation 
had  been  required,  was  not  proceeding  according  to 
program.  So,  quick!  A  few  ships  and  several  hun- 
dred of  our  sailors  sacrificed.  That  would  mean 
something  new  again,  and  would  be  a  " victory"  of 
course — a  foregone  conclusion. 

But  the  English  suffered  losses,  too.  Many  more 
"tons"  than  we.  On  our  victorious  return  home  we 
strewed  mines  for  the  English  fleet,  which  had  wanted 
to  escort  the  German  comrades  to  safe  harbor,  and 
the  English,  in  their  hotheadedness,  ran  into  the 
mines. 

You  see,  even  in  retiring  you  can  have  victories  if 
you  know  how  to. 

But  immediately  after  the  victory,  our  boys  in 
blue  were  sent  back  on  furlough  and  showed  off  in  as 
many  cities  as  possible  so  that  the  people  shouldn't 
say  all  the  men  had  been  lost  in  the  "victory." 

But  this  marine  theatrical,  held  for  the  honored 
public's  benefit,  is  probably  the  first  and  the  last  to 
be  given.  Because  it  is  impossible  to  get  at  the  Eng- 
lish. They  are  everywhere  except  just  where  you 
most  want  them  to  be. 


XIX 
ZABERN 

WHO  still  recalls  the  miniature  revolution  pro- 
voked by  a  silly  eighteen-year-old  Prussian  lieutenant 
in  the  ancient  Alsatian  town  of  Zabern? 

If  the  episode  were  not  signally  indicative  of  the 
character  of  Prussian  militarism,  it  would  scarce- 
ly be  worth  mention  now  in  the  midst  of  the  world- 
war.  We  could  afford  to  forget  the  great  deed  of 
Herr  Baron  Forstner,  although  at  that  time  the  mat- 
ter promised  to  be  very  serious,  and  grave  damage  was 
done — not  to  the  Herr  Leutnant,  but  to  the  innocent 
city. 

A  little  more,  and  militarism  gone  mad,  thinking 
it  had  suffered  a  tremendous  insult,  would  have  taken 
ruthless  revenge  upon  the  citizens  of  Zabern.  It 
is  due  certainly  not  to  the  military  circles,  but  to 
the  level-headedness  of  the  citizens,  that  the  worst 
consequences  were  avoided  and  the  city  escaped  with 
only  economic  damages  to  suffer. 

Some  lack  of  respect,  it  was  alleged,  had  been 
shown  a  ridiculous  immature  little  fellow  of  eighteen 

133 


134  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

— a  foolish  escapade  on  both  sides.  Yet  enough  to 
stir  militarism  to  its  depths.  There  was  no  investiga- 
tion to  discover  the  real  culprit.  The  incident  in  it- 
self sufficed  to  make  militarism  arrest  and  lock  up 
hundreds  of  innocent  passers-by  as  though  they  were 
criminals,  and  wheel  out  its  cannons  and  salute  the 
people  of  Zabern  with  grape-shot. 

Instead  of  removing  the  awkward  lieutenant  from 
Zabern  as  quickly  as  possible,  or,  at  least,  forbidding 
him  to  appear  on  the  streets  so  as  not  to  provoke  the 
excited  people  still  more,  the  matter  was  exaggerated 
to  the  utmost.  The  people  were  to  have  the  brutal 
Prussian  master's  standpoint  thoroughly  rubbed  into 
their  skin. 

The  lieutenant  was  made  to  serve  the  same  object 
as  Gessler's  hat.  Only  the  callow  Prussian  baron 
played  a  less  innocent,  passive  role  than  the  Austrian 
governor's  hat. 

The  military  caste,  in  all  its  arrogance,  with  its  un- 
failing arguments,  bayonets  and  machine-guns,  had 
no  interest  in  finding  out  which  side  was  right  and 
which  side  was  wrong.  It  had  no  interest  in  an  in- 
vestigation, knowing  beforehand  what  jiidgment  to 
pronounce.  His  Majesty's  uniform  deemed  it  had 
been  insulted,  and  militarism  without  hesitation  got 


Zabern  135 

behind  the  uniform,  no  matter  how  irresponsible  the 
person  who  had  worn  it. 

Public  opinion  in  Germany  regarding  the  incident 
was  highly  indicative.  I  cannot  recall  a  single  con- 
demnation of  the  Herr  Leutnant.  The  steps  taken 
by  the  military  authorities  met  with  universal  ap- 
proval. 

Many  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  Alsatians  were 
a  common  lot  and  if  after  several  years  you  could  not 
make  good  Germans  of  them  by  kind  treatment  (sic), 
then  it  was  high  time  to  convert  them  by  force. 

I  remember  reading  in  the  papers  remarks  upon 
the  way  the  matter  was  viewed  by  the  outside  world, 
especially  England.  "Wonder  was  expressd  that  there 
was  such  complete  failure  to  understand  the  methods 
employed  by  our  military  authorities. 

A  German  having  no  knowledge  of  the  western  na- 
tions, with  their  deep-seated  democratic  feelings, 
really  cannot  explain  their  incomprehension.  Such 
action  as  was  taken  with  Zabern  actually  is  so  remote 
from  the  sphere  of  their  ideas  that  they  are  incapable 
of  realizing  the  atmosphere  in  which  a  plant  like 
militarism  flourishes  and  bears  fruit. 

They  did  not  grasp  the  importance  attached  to  the 
symbol  of  militarism,  the  uniform  with  brass  but- 


136  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

tons.  Nor  did  they  understand  the  sentiment  of  the 
German  public. 

So  remote  are  the  views  of  free  people  from  those 
in  which  we  have  been  bred. 

The  Reichstag  proceedings  in  regard  to  the  Zabern 
affair  are  as  vivid  in  my  mind  as  though  they  had 
taken  place  yesterday.  Why,  actually — the  thing  was 
unheard  of — never  happened  before — the  Reichstag 
for  a  moment  bethought  itself  even  under  the  eyes  of 
the  supreme  command ;  bethought  itself  that  it  was  the 
"representative  of  the  people/'  and  made  a  feeble 
attempt  to  handle  and  dispose  of  the  matter  according 
to  parliamentary  form. 

The  fiasco  suffered  by  this  famous  body,  repre- 
sentative of  65,000,000  people,  was  well  deserved ;  and 
the  Reichstag  was  even  more  ridiculous — if  possible — 
than  the  eighteen-year-old  Prussian  lieutenant. 

How  the  tedious  philosopher  of  a  chancellor  stood 
there  telling  the  deputies  elected  by  the  great  German 
nation  to  their  faces  that  he  didn't  care  a  rap  for 
their  vote  of  censure.  He  didn't  need  the  people's 
confidence,  having  the  confidence  of  the  Kaiser.  But 
one  thing  he  would  tell  them,  he  wouldn't  have  them 
trying  to  undermine  the  supreme  command  of  the 
supreme  war-lord. 

They  swallowed  it,  these  excellent  representatives 


Zabern  137 

of  the  people  did.  For  a  second  they  were  discom- 
fited, then  they  smiled,  and  everything  was  all  right 
again. 

They  humbly  took  the  beating  administered  by  their 
imperial  lord  through  his  servant,  the  chancellor. 

Bethmann-Hollweg,  of  course,  remained  the  chan- 
cellor— now,  for  sure— although  nearly  the  whole 
Reichstag  wished  his  retirement. 

He  remained  the  chancellor,  and  to  him  and  his 
lord  and  to  a  few  other  good  things  we  owe  the 
world-war. 

The  representative  assembly  of  the  German  people 
allowed  Zabern  to  be  dished  up  to  it,  also  this  war. 
What  else  will  it  allow? 


XX 

FLUNKEY  SOULS 

A  GERMAN  prince  was  reviewing  a  group  of  Eng- 
lish prisoners  who  had  just  been  captured.  They 
stood  in  front  of  the  prince  still  coated  from  head  to 
foot  witK  the  mud  of  the  trenches.  They  must  have 
known  the  high  rank  of  the  man  reviewing  them 
from  the  obsequious  manners  of  his  brilliant  escort 
of  officers.  But  it  didn't  confuse  the  Englishmen  in 
the  least.  They  paid  no  attention  to  His  Royal  High- 
ness. They  shook  out  their  overcoats  and  helped  each 
other  knock  the  dirt  out  of  their  clothes,  and  the  dust 
flew.  They  smoked  and  chatted  and  were  not  in  the 
least  disconcerted  by  the  prince's  presence. 

Their  free-and-easy  ways  so  annoyed  His  Highness 
that  he  turned  away  angrily,  and  said  to  his  escort: 

1  'So  that's  the  sort  of  trash  our  good  German  fa- 
thers have  to  go  scuffling  round  with." 

Apparently  he  couldn't  conceive  of  there  being  men 
who  would  not  shut  up  talking  at  his  approach  and 
would  not  click  their  heels  together  and  drop  their 
hands  to  their  trousers  seams  and  stand  in  the  stiff 

138 


Flunkey  Souls  139 

Prussian  attitude  of  attention.  He  simply  couldn't 
conceive  it. 

Fortunately  the  typical  " German  father"  was 
standing  nearby,  the  landsturmmann  Miiller  III  from 
Kyritz  on  the  Knatter.  He  heard  His  Highness 's 
wrathful  remark  and  allowed  himself  the  liberty  of 
adding  his  most  humble  spicing  to  it.  He  murmured 
audibly : 

"A  good  thing  we  made  war  on  the  blackguards! 
Supposing  they  had  come  here  and  fallen  on  our 
women!  Just  supposing!" 

Thank  goodness,  he  spoke  exactly  loud  enough  for 
His  Highness  to  overhear  his  remark.  The  mighty 
lord  turned  and  silently  but  graciously  shook  the 
hand  of  the  "Kamerad,"  the  German  father  and 
landsturmmann  Miiller  III  from  Kyritz  on  the  Knat- 
ter. For  many,  many  years  to  come  Herr  Miiller  will 
be  vaunting  this  handshake  to  his  fellow  beer-drinkers 
at  the  cafe  and  telling  of  His  Royal  Highness 's  con- 
descension. 

Evidently  it  was  more  than  a  Herr  Miiller 's  good 
flunkey  intelligence  could  grasp  that  there  are  mor- 
tals in  this  world  who  can  be  as  unconcerned  in  the 
presence  of  a  real  true  prince  as  in  the  presence  of  a 
Lehmann  or  a  Meier.  So  far  from  rejoicing  that 
there  should  be  such  mortals  he  showed  not  the  faint- 


140  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

est  glimmer  of  comprehension  of  them.  Men  who 
don't  stand  up  stiff  and  straight  in  front  of  a  prince, 
but  even  dust  their  clothes  out  must  be  awful  crea- 
tures, the  sort  that  rape  women,  nothing  less. 

What  a  picture  of  the  world  he  must  have  in  his 
mind! 

The  unconstrained  behavior  of  free  men  was  some- 
thing beyond  this  good  servant's  powers  of  imagina- 
tion. And  it  revolted  his  flunkey  soul  that  the  Eng- 
lishman saw  nothing  but  a  human  being  like  them- 
selves in  the  prince.  That  is  why  they  must  have  had 
intentions  against  the  German  women,  the  disre- 
spectful fellows!  If  they  were  not  low  creatures, 
capable  of  any  outrage,  they  would  have  done  just 
what  Herr  Muller  III  would  have  done.  They  would 
have  stood  at  attention  with  a  sheepish  look  on  their 
faces  and  not  stirred  from  that  attitude  until  His 
Highness  had  honored  them  with  the  favor  of  his 
address.  But  they  did  no  such  thing.  They  shook  the 
dust  out  of  their  clothes.  Consequently  they  were  low, 
vile  creatures. 


XXI 

THE  " GREAT  TIME" 

BEFORE  the  war  the  uninitiated  could  have  had  no 
notion  of  the  depths  to  which  political  demoralization 
in  Germany  had  sunk.  It  took  the  war  itself  to  show 
with  awful  clearness  how  far  gone  we  were. 

It  must  be  conceded  that  in  this  respect  Prussia 
did  a  thorough  piece  of  work.  The  achievements  of 
the  subventioned  "fatherland"  press  in  distorting 
and  trimming  up  the  truth  are  really  stupendous. 

Through  contributions  from  the  state  and  gifts 
from  the  allied  interests  the  press  has  been  brought 
into  dependence  upon  the  government  and  its  prof- 
iteers, and  is  engaged  to  support  their  policy  and  to 
influence  the  minds  of  the  masses. 

This  holds  true  all  over  the  country,  in  the  north 
as  well  as  in  the  south.  In  Cologne  you  read  exactly 
the  same  things  as  in  Breslau ;  in  Hamburg,  the  same 
as  in  Munich  or  in  Stuttgart. 

The  people's  interests  are  by  no  means  the  same 
everywhere,  and  Bavaria,  for  example,  with  its  old, 
highly  developed  civilization  and  its  interest  in  for- 

141 


142  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

eign  visitors  ought  to  have  an  entirely  different  atti- 
tude toward  the  war  from  the  attitude  of,  say,  Konigs- 
berg,  or  even  the  west,  with  its  large  manufactures. 

But  this  actual  diversity  of  interests  finds  not  the 
slightest  expression  in  the  big  papers,  all  molded  in 
the  same  "fatherland"  form. 

All  of  them,  as  with  one  instrument,  trumpeted 
forth  the  "great  time,"  and  none  failed  to  chime  in, 
the  leader  of  the  concert  beating  time  in  Berlin. 

Taterata,  the  great  time  is  here !  Taterata,  tatera- 
ta!  The  blare  of  trumpets  was  to  drown  every  other 
sound.  The  deadly  fright  and  amazement  of  large 
portions  of  the  German  workers,  all  the  unexpected 
and  awful  things  connected  with  war  had  to  be 
shouted  down  by  this  blazoning  forth  of  the  "great 
time." 

A  highly  accomplished  orchestra,  we  must  admit. 
No  wonder.  The  rehearsals  had  been  going  on — for 
the  initiated — for  years. 

Conceive  all  the  things  that  this  hellish  "father- 
land" din  had  to  deafen  our  ears  to.  The  crying  and 
sobbing  of  women  whose  husbands  were  being  snatched 
from  them  and  led  to  certain  death ;  the  wailing  and 
lamentations  of  mothers  whose  sons  had  supported 
them  faithfully  and  who  were  now  being  taken  away ; 


The  "Great  Time"  143 

the  hopeless  grieving  of  the  brides,  whose  dreams  of 
happiness  were  lost  forever. 

Endless  misery,  endless  woe,  all  to  be  shouted  down 
by  this  hullabaloo  about  the  "great  time/' 

They  went  marching  away,  the  sons,  the  pride  and 
the  joy  of  their  parents,  for  whom  the  elders  had 
worked  and  denied  themselves  so  as  to  make  the  lives 
of  the  younger  ones  a  little  bit  easier  than  their  own 
had  been.  Will  they  ever  see  their  sons  again?  Will 
their  sons  ever  come  back  home?  Perhaps  as  cripples 
or  blind  men? 

Off  they  had  to  go  to  war,  just  as  they  were  about 
to  form  their  lives  according  to  their  own  wishes,  all 
these  millions  of  young  men.  Now  all  was  over  for- 
ever. 

Who  knows  them  and  who  counts  them,  all  these 
existences,  all  these  hopes  that  the  war  has  so  brutally 
destroyed  ? 

And  how  many  others,  who  themselves  did  not  have 
to  go  to  war,  were  ruined?  Even  the  most  modest 
hopes  of  an  assured  old  age  had  to  be  renounced. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  salaried  men  lost  their 
positions  and  were  driven  by  dire  necessity  to  take 
badly  paid  factory  jobs,  and  so  were  reduced  to 
proletarians. 

Nobody  hears  the  sighs  of  these  unfortunates,  no- 


144  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

body  heeds  their  woe;  for  the  taterata,  taterata  of 
the  great  time  booms  in  our  ears  daily. 

But  there  are  others  besides  the  unfortunates,  and 
enough  of  them,  in  whose  ears  the  clanging  and  the 
tooting  make  a  delightful  sound,  who  are  all  en- 
thusiasm, and  who  join  in  the  concert  with  the  full 
strength  of  their  lungs.  These  men  have  good  cause 
to  think  it  a  "great  time."  "Why  blame  the  share- 
holders of  the  companies  that  manufacture  instru- 
ments of  death  and  destruction  for  intoning  enthusi- 
astic hymns  to  the  "great  time"  and  to  the  war, 
while  sticking  fat  dividends  into  their  pockets?  Why 
should  the  Prussian  agrarians  not  be  making  their 
millions  in  profit  with  hurrahs  for  the  ' '  great  time ' '  ? 
Why  not  rejoice  in  sympathy  with  the  gentlemen  offi- 
cials who  are  drawing  two  or  three  times  the  salaries 
that  they  used  to? 

And  the  army  officers!  The  officers  who  had  been 
fed  like  drones  in  a  beehive  and  who  must  occa- 
sionally in  peace  times  have  been  made  aware  of  their 
superfluousness.  Ought  not  the  officers  do  the  loud- 
est trumpeting  of  all  in  the  "great  time"  concert? 

At  last  they  realized  what  for  so  long  had  been 
nothing  but  a  lovely  remote  dream ! 

' '  War !   We  're  at  war !    Thank  God ! ' ' 

< '  The  thundering  of  cannon.    0  God,  what  joy ! " 


The  "Great  Time"  145 

"There's  war!"  an  officer,  beside  himself  with  de- 
light, wrote  in  the  Munchner  Neueste  Nachrichtm  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

Their  ecstasy  is  easy  to  understand.  They  are  going 
to  have  a  high  old  time.  Money  as  plentiful  as  peb- 
bles. Not  much  danger  to  them  in  trench  warfare. 
During  assaults  they  can  comfortably  remain  behind 
— in  fact,  must  remain  behind — after  pricking  on  the 
captains  of  the  reserves  and  their  men,  who  no  longer 
hear  or  see  anything  in  the  frenzy  of  their  excitement 
and  dread. 

Oh,  what  gay  times  they  have  in  their  officers '  dug- 
outs !  Champagne  flowing  in  streams  and — women,  a 
matter  that  also  received  its  due  attention. 

Isn't  that  what  you  call  a  "great  time"? 

And  militarism  knows  how  to  avail  itself  of  the 
opportunity  in  other  ways,  too. 

The  sword  rules  in  the  land  absolutely.  A  wave  of 
the  sword  is  enough.  At  last  the  ideal  conditions! 
The  military  caste  commands  and  the  people  obey. 
It's  so  simple.  Why  think  and  talk  about  it  a  whole 
lot?  Commanding  and  obeying  is  much  simpler. 

And  should  any  man  having  other  opinions  resist, 
woe  to  him.  For  the  sword  is  plaintiff  and  judge  in 
one.  The  sword  can  do  everything,  knows  everything, 
and  is  everything.  Hurrah,  hurrah,  hurrah! 


XXII 
WHY  THE  GERMANS  ARE  DISLIKED 

WHY  are  the  Germans  disliked?  You  find  this 
question  put  very  frequently  in  our  papers  now,  with 
the  answer  immediately  appended. 

The  question  is  very  evidently  asked  merely  in  or- 
der to  give  the  interrogator  the  chance  to  make  a 
reply  that  will  be  intensely  gratifying  to  himself  and 
his  readers. 

In  these  days  when  we  are  practically  under  mar- 
tial law  in  Germany,  any  one  of  us  who  doesn  't  mean 
to  answer  the  question  in  this  satisfying  fashion  and 
would  really  like  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  the  dislike 
of  us,  had  better  take  care  not  to  pose  the  question 
in  public.  He  would  be  made  to  feel  the  general 
dislike  of  himself,  and  probably  much  more  else. 

So  the  answer  invariably  accompanying  the  ques- 
tion cannot  but  give  great  gratification  to  every  "  fa- 
therland" heart.  The  main  reason  why  the  Germans 
are  disliked,  as  set  forth  in  the  "fatherland"  press, 
is  a  very  flattering  one.  Envy,  sheer  envy.  The 
Germans  are  envied  their  brilliant  qualities,  their  stu- 

146 


Why  the  Germans  are  Disliked       147 

pendous  achievements,  their  successes  in  all  the  fields 
of  human  activity. 

The  Germans  are  hated  because  all  the  other  na- 
tions pale  before  their  glory,  as  the  moon  pales  before 
the  sun.  There  you  have  the  reason,  and  the  only 
reason,  why  the  Germans  are  hated.  So  the  nations 
that  thought  they  had  other  causes  for  hating  us 
are  now  instructed  as  to  the  right  causes. 

We  don't  deny  that  the  nations  either  hate  us  or 
hold  us  in  contempt.  Yet  apparently  no  one  has 
thought  of  asking  why  we  alone,  and  not  any  other 
nation,  is  so  honored. 

At  bottom,  it  is  the  same  with  nations  as  with  indi- 
viduals. If  a  man  has  one  neighbor  who  hates  him, 
that  seems  quite  comprehensible.  You  can't  be 
friends  with  the  whole  world.  Even  if  two  or  three 
neighbors  hate  him,  it  will  still  be  comprehensible 
and  there  still  will  be  no  reason  for  putting  unmiti- 
gated blame  upon  him.  But  if  none  of  his  neighbors 
like  him,  it  cannot  possibly  be  the  fault  of  so  many 
people,  but  the  fault  of  the  man  whom  everybody 
has  an  unfriendly  feeling  for.  And  certainly  such 
general  disapprobation  will  not  be  called  forth  by  any 
particularly  noble  qualities  that  the  man  may  possess, 
but  by  the  very  opposite  qualities.  There  must  be 


148  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

good  grounds  for  the  man's  being  so  universally  dis- 
liked. 

It  is  my  purpose,  in  this  chapter,  to  see  if  the  same 
does  not  apply  to  the  German  people  and  to  find  out 
whether  or  not  there  are  valid  reasons  for  our  being 
disliked. 

First  I  must  call  attention  to  the  remarkable  fact 
that  by  no  means  all  Germans  are  disliked,  but  only 
a  very  well-defined  part  of  them. 

The  German  of  the  south,  the  Bavarian  or  the 
Wiirttemberger,  observes  little  of  this  foreign  distaste 
of  him.  To  be  sure  he  does  not  figure  so  prominently 
in  political  and  economic  affairs  as,  for  instance,  the 
Prussian.  His  connections  abroad  are  not  so  exten- 
sive, so  that  there  are  fewer  sources  of  friction  be- 
tween him  and  foreigners. 

Nevertheless,  he  has  ample  opportunity  to  demon- 
strate that  a  certain  something,  possibly  his  civiliza- 
tion far  older  than  the  Prussian's,  keeps  him  from 
being  as  conspicuous  in  other  countries  as  his  north- 
ern brother.  Foreigners  find  his  unassuming  man- 
ners scarcely  distinguishable  from  their  own.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  one  thing  is  certain,  the  German 
that  is  disliked  is  generally  a  Prussian. 

So,  in  considering  the  causes  of  Germanophobia,  we 
may  leave  the  South-Germans  out  of  account. 


Why  the  Germans  are  Disliked       149 

There  have  always  been  ample  opportunities  for 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  German's  personal  pe- 
culiarities abroad.  In  the  good  old  times  the  German 
traveling  journeyman,  still,  probably,  the  most  agree- 
able specimen  of  the  German  tourist,  was  known 
everywhere.  And  now  the  figure  most  frequently 
seen  is  that  of  a  petty  official  or  an  upper  school 
teacher,  or  a  small  tradesman,  who  wears  his  oldest 
clothes  traveling,  makes  a  show  of  soiled  celluloid 
collars  and  soiled  outing  linen  and  always  puts  on  his 
hobnailed  boots  when  visiting  the  museums  and  art 
galleries. 

Foreigners  have  come  across  some  few  Germans 
who  spend  much  money  with  little  decency,  but  more 
Germans  who  spend  little  money  with  still  less  de- 
cency, the  sort  that  are  petty  and  stingy  wherever 
they  go,  who  always  haggle  over  prices,  and  make  all 
the  greater  demands  in  return  for  their  pennies.  You 
can  often  hear  them  boasting  of  how  thoroughly  they 
have  "done"  a  dealer.  They  want  to  show  off  their 
immense  shrewdness.  They  would  never  give  the 
price  a  man  first  asked  for  an  article.  No  indeed,  not 
until  they  had  beat  him  down  by  half. 

They  never  approve  the  arrangements  of  any  place 
they  are  in,  but  always  scold  at  the  top  of  their  voices, 
usually  for  no  reason  at  all,  and  always  want  to  in- 


150  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

struct  every  one  regarding  the  (often  dubious)  prog- 
ress in  culture  of  Jross-Bealihn,*  which  is  the  only 
culture  worthy  of  the  human  race. 

They  can't  do  enough  by  way  of  the  most  arrogant, 
insulting  disparagement  of  all  foreign  conditions, 
especially  the  conditions  of  the  locality  they  happen 
to  be  in.  "The  place  won't  improve  either,"  they 
say,  "until  Prussia  has  annexed  it  and  given  it  the 
right  administration. ' ' 

These  examples  are  all  signs  of  lack  of  culture, 
wretched  taste,  and  stupid  conceit.  Another  sign  of 
bad  taste  is  a  thing  that  frequently  occurs  in  restau- 
rants. Often  you  can  hear  a  whole  family,  three  ta- 
bles away,  discussing  in  the  greatest  detail  the  price 
paid  for  a  glass  of  beer  somewhere.  And  am  I  mis- 
taken if  I  call  it  bad  taste  when  in  nearly  all  the  let- 
ters from  the  front  that  are  published  in  the  papers 
the  same  Russian  swarms  of  lice  and  the  same  Rus- 
sian dungheaps  are  eternally  dished  up  to  us?  Of 
course,  the  lice  are  never  of  home  growth,  but  always 
a  Russian  pest.  As  if  every  man  would  not  be  over- 
run with  lice  who  has  no  chance  to  wash  himself  or 
change  his  clothes  for  weeks.  But,  no,  the  lice  must 
come  from  enemy  soldiers.  The  enemy  soldiers,  never 
we  ourselves,  are  the  dirty,  lousy  ones.  Oh,  the  Rus- 

*  Local  pronunciation  of  Gross-Berlin. 


Why  the  Germans  are  Disliked       151 

sian  filth  and  the  poor  Russian  roads  that  we  have 
had  to  suffer  from  already! 

As  if  conditions  would  be  any  different  here  had 
the  war  invaded  our  own  country  and  had  a  frenzy  of 
fright  and  horror  spread  over  our  homes!  What 
would  a  German  road  look  like  after  ten  thousand 
munition  autos  and  all  sorts  of  heavy  trucks  had 
passed  over  it?  Wouldn't  it  be  rough  and  dusty  and 
torn  to  its  bed? 

How  arrogant  and  superficial  to  criticize  such  things 
in  an  unfortunate  land  where  war  is  raging,  to  de- 
plore the  absence  of  "German  order/'  and  not  to 
ascribe  the  disorder  to  the  great  disturber  war,  but 
to  put  the  blame  for  it  upon  the  wretched  inhabitants 
who  are  driven  from  place  to  place. 

Another  very  important  cause  for  the  dislike  of  the 
Germans  lies  in  the  field  of  trade  and  industry. 

For  a  long  time  German  merchants  and  manufac- 
turers have  unscrupulously  appropriated  and  ex- 
ploited foreign  models  and  patterns,  as  well  as  foreign 
inventions.  Everybody  knows  how  in  Paris  German 
firms  carry  on  a  positively  unprincipled  policy  of  an- 
nexation with  regard  to  fashions,  instead  of  taking 
the  trouble  to  design  new  styles  themselves  or  pay 
German  artists  to  sketch  models  for  them. 

Paris  fashions  are  openly  copied  and  the  imitations 


152  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

are  brought  here,  as  genuine  Parisian  of  course,  and 
sold  at  reduced  prices.  This  is  not  honorable  com- 
petition, but  mean,  underhand  competition;  because 
if  the  German  firms  were  to  go  to  the  trouble  and 
the  expense  of  doing  their  own  designing,  they  would 
not  be  able  to  sell  their  goods  at  such  low  figures. 

What  is  more,  German  firms  compete  with  the 
French  in  their  own  country,  where  they  sell  the 
articles  so  unfairly  acquired  at  a  cheaper  price  than 
can  the  French  merchants,  who  have  to  cover  the  cost 
of  experimenting  and  making  models. 

So  here,  in  this  sordid  competition  practiced  by 
many  German  merchants,  you  have  one  of  the  main 
causes  of  the  dislike  of  the  Germans. 

And  how  about  England?  Haven't  the  Germans 
for  years,  straight  up  to  the  war,  done  even  worse 
things  in  England  than  in  France?  They  have  been 
carrying  on  industrial  espionage  in  England  and 
stealing  models  for  instruments  and  machinery. 

The  English  have  resorted  to  everything  within 
their  power  to  guard  themselves  against  this  mean 
competition.  The  label  "made  in  Germany"  was  a 
last  resort  of  desperation  to  save  British  industry 
from  the  merciless  underbidding  that  was  robbing  it 
of  its  markets  in  its  own  country. 

Examples  may  be  multiplied,  but  the  few  I  have 


Why  the  Germans  are  Disliked       153 

given  will  suffice,  and  they  will  stand  the  test  of 
verification. 

Will  a  fair-minded  man  ask  the  English  and  the 
French  to  love  the  Germans  who  imitate  their  inven- 
tions and  then  turn  them  to  use  against  them? 
Would  we  in  Germany  love  members  of  any  nation 
attempting  to  do  the  same  thing  to  us?  Scarcely. 
Remember  all  we  have  been  saying  here  against  the 
Japanese. 

You  might  at  least  expect  that  the  Germans  would 
be  content  with  profiting  by  other  people's  inven- 
tions and  would  keep  quiet  when  once  in  a  while  the 
other  people  turned  round  and  showed  indignation 
at  such  practices.  Not  a  bit  of  it!  We  Germans 
don't  steal  ideas,  we  say.  And  we  launch  verbal 
assaults,  and  so  add  insult  to  injury. 

But  the  gravest  part  of  the  blame  for  our  being  dis- 
liked attaches  to  our  foreign  policy.  Take  the  Boers 
for  example.  At  the  outset  of  the  war  endless  yarns 
were  spun  of  the  Boers'  intended  revolt  against  Eng- 
land and  their  colossal  debt  of  gratitude  to  us.  We 
were  so  sure  they  were  going  to  pay  the  debt  now. 

But  what  was  the  true  state  of  affairs? 

Before  the  Boer  War  William  II  sent  President 
Kriiger  a  telegram  telling  him  he  should  not  allow 
the  English  to  do  whatever  they  pleased,  and  he 


154  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

must  be  sure  not  to  give  in,  because  he,  William, 
would  come  to  their  aid  in  good  time.  But  when  the 
English  began  to  take  the  matter  seriously  and 
Kriiger,  placing  absolute  reliance  in  Germany's  as- 
sistance, defied  England,  the  German  government  vio- 
lated its  pledge  and  left  him  in  the  lurch,  while  the 
selfsame  William  II  who  had  incited  Kriiger  paid  not 
the  slightest  attention  to  him,  and  even  sent  his 
grandmother,  the  queen  of  England,  a  plan  of  war- 
fare by  which  the  Boers  could  best  be  overpowered. 

Although  this  plan  was  a  product  of  imperial  van- 
ity and  was  worth  scarcely  more  than  the  paper  it 
was  written  on,  it  served  excellently  to  reveal  to  the 
Boers  the  character  of  William  II  and  also  the  char- 
acter of  the  German  government. 

It  was  a  painful  lesson  that  Kriiger  had  learned 
and  it  cost  him  a  country  laid  waste  and  many  thou- 
sands of  lives.  For  without  the  certain  prospect  of 
the  Kaiser's  help,  he  would  never  have  entered  into 
so  unequal  a  conflict  with  the  mighty  British  realm. 

The  German  press  at  that  time  knew  nothing  of 
the  wheeling  round  of  the  imperial  policy  and  helped 
the  Boers  valiantly  with — its  tongue. 

So  England  came  in  for  a  tongue-lashing,  oh,  what 
a  lashing! 

Until   the   present   war,   there   has   never   been   a 


Why  the  Germans  are  Disliked       i$$ 

meaner,  more  venomous  campaign  of  villification  car- 
ried on  against  any  country  or  any  nation  than  the 
campaign  of  the  "fatherland"  newspapers  against 
England  during  the  Boer  War.  Did  the  noise  the 
German  press  made  help  the  Boers  any?  Not  in  the 
least.  Then  what  have  the  Boers  to  be  grateful  to  us 
for? 

The  bottomless  vials  of  hate  poured  out  by  the 
press  were  of  no  use  to  the  Boers  or  any  one  else. 
On  the  contrary,  they  did  an  infinite  amount  of  dam- 
age. They  hurt  us  not  only  with  England  but  also 
with  the  whole  world.  The  Kaiser's  perfidious  pol- 
icy, on  the  one  hand,  and  the  furious  baiting  of  the 
press,  on  the  other  hand,  gave  fresh  and  powerful 
impetus  to  the  universal  hatred  of  us. 

Much  the  same  happened  in  the  Spanish-American 
War.  The  German  government  along  with  the  in- 
spired German  press  took  sides  with  Spain,  in  its 
sympathies,  at  least,  if  nothing  else,  the  sole  reason 
for  so  doing  being  the  fact  that  Spain  was  a  mon- 
archy and  the  United  States  a  democracy.  Sufficient 
cause,  this,  for  the  German  government  with  its  dynas- 
tic interests  to  interpret  neutrality  as  unfavorably 
as  possible  to  the  United  States. 

The  government  could  not  come  out  openly  on  the 
side  of  Spain.  For  this  there  was  no  plausible  pre- 


156  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

text.  But  what  could  be  done  was  to  damage  us,  and 
damage  us  badly,  with  the  United  States.  One  suc- 
cess, to  be  sure,  of  the  imperial  policy. 

Nobody  in  Spain  or  in  America  any  longer  thinks 
of  the  Spanish- American  War.  The  two  countries 
are  quite  reconciled  and,  strangely  enough,  much 
better  friends  now  than  Spain  and  Germany.  Odd, 
isn't  it? 

Always  and  everywhere  we  find  it  is  the  endeavor 
of  the  imperial  German  policy  to  set  everybody 
against  us.  And  its  efforts  meet  with  invariable  suc- 
cess. Then  our  Philistines  show  surprise  that  the 
whole  world  hates  us,  and  play  injured  innocence,  or 
else  devoutly  chant  responses  to  the  press,  saying  it 
is  the  incomparable  qualities  of  the  Germans  that 
bring  down  on  them  the  hatred  of  the  other  nations. 

The  Eussians  and  the  Japanese,  the  English  and 
the  Boers,  the  Spaniards  and  the  Americans  were  all 
reconciled  and  the  best  of  friends  within  a  very  short 
time  after  their  wars. 

But  Germany,  after  a  lapse  of  forty-four  years, 
has  still  not  brought  about  reconciliation  or  friend- 
ship with  France.  France's  fault,  we  keep  saying. 
But  Germany  even  within  its  own  borders  cannot 
make  friends  of  the  Alsatians,  Danes,  and  Poles.  All 
it  can  do  is  oppress  them. 


Why  the  Germans  are  Disliked       157 

Doesn't  all  this  give  us  Germans  food  for  thought? 

Is  there  a  sane  German  who  still  has  the  nerve  to 
get  up  and  say, ' '  The  one  reason  why  the  whole  world 
hates  us  is  that  we  are  successful,  and  we  have  every 
cause  to  rejoice  at  being  so  disliked?"  Has  any  one 
still  got  the  courage  to  maintain  that  not  we  ar,e  to 
blame  but  all  the  other  nations? 

I  envy  the  man  who  dares  to  say  so. 


XXIII 
THE  BEST  JOKE  OF  THE  WAR 

AFTER  the  so-called  invasion  of  Memel  by  the  Rus- 
sians, one  of  the  shoals  of  princes  of  the  royal  blood 
was  sent  there  to  inspect  the  havoc  that  had  been 
wrought,  and  to  bring  solace  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  undoubtedly  beautiful  city,  and,  above  all,  to 
assure  them  of  the  "never-failing  good  will  of  His 
Imperial  Majesty." 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  imperial  good  will 
is  the  most  healing  ointment  that  can  be  applied  to 
the  wounds  inflicted  by  the  "Russian  hordes."  The 
people  then  know  that  the  eye  of  His  Majesty  is  rest- 
ing upon  them  benevolently,  if  only  through  the  me- 
dium of  his  representative ;  and  no  praise  can  sound 
sweeter  in  the  ears  of  the  good  inhabitants  of  this  bor- 
der city  of  Prussia  than  to  say  of  them  that  "they 
are  loyal  to  the  Kaiser  to  the  very  marrow  of  their 
bones." 

But  undoubtedly  what  contributed  most  to  comfort 
them  was  the  prince's  scintillating  farewell  address — 
his  father  all  over  again!  He  expressed  his  great 

158 


The  Best  Joke  of  the  War          159 

disgust  at  the  Russian  outrages  and  concluded  his 
speech  with  the  ringing  words: 

"In  view  of  these  horrible  atrocities,  long  live  His 
Majesty!    Hurrah,  hurrah,  hurrah !" 


XXIV 
"GOTT  STRAFE  ENGLAND!" 

A  NEW  curse?  Good!  And  emanating,  they  say, 
from  the  highest  source,  from  one  who  has  taken  re- 
ligion and  Christianity  under  his  special  protection. 

But  we  are  fighting  against  France,  too,  and  Rus- 
sia, a  world  of  foes.  Why  just  Gott  strafe  England? 

There's  something  behind  this  curse. 

Each  time  I  hear  England  so  damned,  which  hap- 
pens none  too  seldom,  it  invariably  occurs  to  me  that 
a  marauder  must  curse  like  that  when  rich  booty 
that  he  is  about  to  swoop  down  on  is  at  the  last  mo- 
ment snatched  away  from  him  through  the  unex- 
pected intervention  of  a  third  party. 

For  how  did  the  thing  go?  How  did  this  neatly 
contrived  "war  of  defense"  begin?  Belgium,  as  if 
struck  by  lightning,  was  felled  to  the  ground,  and 
within  a  few  days  was  overrun  by  our  armies.  France 
was  assaulted,  and  the  German  troops  penetrated  to 
within  forty  kilometres  from  Paris  without  encoun- 
tering serious  resistance. 

As  for  Russia,  they  knew  perfectly  well  in  Berlin 
160 


"Gott  Strafe  England"  161 

that  she  would  need  weeks,  even  months,  for  mobil- 
izing her  armies  sufficiently  to  be  able  to  get  them 
into  real  action  and  carry  on  an  effective  offensive. 
In  the  meanwhile  Paris  would  have  been  taken  and 
France  overrun  like  Belgium. 

In  brief,  the  famous  Prussian  war  plan  would  have 
been  executed,  the  predatory  expedition  would  have 
succeeded  (Russia  could  easily  be  disposed  of  later, 
at  least  in  a  defensive  operation),  when  all  of  a  sud- 
den, yes,  quite  all  of  a  sudden,  the  Englishman 
stepped  in,  not  with  his  pipe  in  his  mouth  and  his 
hands  in  his  trousers  pockets,  as  an  interested  spec- 
tator, but  as  an  active  participant  taking  up  for  the 
parties  attacked.  And  a  portion  of  the  army  and  a 
corresponding  portion  of  the  ammunition,  a  good  bit 
of  what  was  to  help  invade  France,  had  to  be  with- 
drawn to  other  parts  to  meet  a  possible  attack  by 
England  on  the  northwestern  coast. 

Alas,  the  prettily  contrived  plan  came  to  naught! 

That's  why  the  supreme  war-lord  curses  and  swears 
and  says,  "Gott  strafe  England,"  and  the  chorus 
joins  in  cursing  and  swearing. 

In  Berlin  they  knew  that  England  would  take  a 
positive  stand  against  such  an  undertaking  on  the 
part  of  Germany,  and  they  were  prepared  for  every- 


162  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

thing  except  this  one  thing,  England's  prompt  in- 
tervention. 

They  thought  that  England  would  hesitate,  and 
that  when  it  saw  Belgium  and  France  completely 
prostrated,  it  would  not  enter  the  war  at  all  but  would 
content  itself  with  trying  by  diplomacy  to  prevent  too 
great  a  mutilation  of  France. 

Instead  of  that,  England  stepped  right  in.  Her 
action  was  at  that  time  the  one  obstacle  to  prevent 
Prussian  militarism  from  carrying  out  its  schemes  of 
world-conquest  and  from  laying  the  world's  liberty 
in  chains  at  the  feet  of  the  supreme  war-lord. 

The  battle  of  the  Marne  made  it  quite  clear  that 
the  expedition  of  conquest  was  frustrated. 

So,  if  in  the  future  Germany,  if  the  whole  world, 
in  fact,  will  be  able  to  breathe  freely  again;  if  our 
boys,  instead  of  being  sacrificed,  as  millions  of  them 
now  are,  to  the  Moloch  of  militarism,  will  be  allowed 
to  live  free  lives  on  a  free  earth,  we  shall  owe  it  to 
England's  prompt  decision. 

If  we  shall  have  men  in  Germany  again,  men,  not 
merely  subjects,  we  shall  owe  it  to  England's  un- 
selfish, big-hearted  decision  to  sacrifice  her  sons  for 
the  world's  freedom. 

Those  who  are  now,  at  the  behest  of  the  highest 


"Gott  Strafe  England"  163 

command,  cursing  England,  will  then  be  giving  her 
their  thanks. 

The  author  of  the  curse,  Gott  strafe  England,  knew 
why  he  was  cursing.  He  had  every  reason  to  curse. 
He,  but  not  the  German  people.  His  horrible,  mur- 
derous "divine  right"  was  at  stake.  That  and  noth- 
ing else. 

But  every  decent  German  man  should  be  ashamed 
to  echo  the  imperial  curse.  England  deserves,  not  to 
be  cursed,  but  to  be  blessed. 

For  England,  at  the  cost  of  infinite  sacrifices,  swept 
aside  the  obstacles  blocking  the  path  of  the  German 
people  to  peace  and  to  liberty. 


XXV 

THE  GERMAN  SOCIAL  DEMOCRACY  AND 
THE  WAR 

ON  August  4,  1914,  the  Social  Democratic  Fraction 
in  the  Reichstag  voted  in  favor  of  declaring  war  on 
Russia  and  France,  and  so  helped  to  raise  the  curtain 
upon  a  tragedy,  the  biggest  and  bloodiest  ever  en- 
acted on  the  world-stage  and  fraught  with  the  most 
awful  consequences. 

The  Social  Democratic  Fraction  wanted  to  be  be- 
hind no  one  in  "defense  of  the  fatherland." 

The  stage  managers,  it  must  be  conceded,  had  been 
exceedingly  skillful  in  presenting  an  accomplished 
fact  and  so  taking  the  Social  Democrats  as  well  as 
the  rest  of  the  world  by  surprise.  It  required  almost 
superhuman  level-headedness  not  to  succumb  to  the 
compelling  force  of  the  suggestion. 

There  are  only  a  very  few  of  us  human  beings  who 
possess  the  firmness  and  level-headedness  necessary 
for  suddenly  meeting  a  critical  situation,  and  evi- 
dently the  Social  Democratic  Fraction  counted  none 
of  these  few  among  its  numbers;  which  is  the  reason 


German  Social  Democracy  and  the  War    165 

why  the  "defense  of  the  fatherland"  came  down  like 
a  stroke  of  lightning  and  set  the  Socialists  as  well 
as  the  rest  of  the  people  afire  with  patriotism.  Very 
well.  Yet  why  even  in  the  heat  of  enthusiasm  over- 
look the  remarkable  fact  that  the  alleged  defense  of 
the  fatherland  began  with  declarations  of  war  against 
Russia  and  France  and  with  the  invasion  of  Belgium? 

No  matter  how  generous  an  interpretation  we  may 
be  inclined  to  make,  we  shall  still  find  the  unquali- 
fied assent  of  the  Fraction  utterly  incomprehensible. 
Assuredly  the  Social  Democrats  were  better  prepared 
to  size  up  the  situation  than  the  general  public.  And 
they  had  had  plenty  of  time  to  think  the  thing  over. 
War  had  been  in  the  air  for  some  time.  ' '  There  will 
be  war"  had  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  in  the  days 
following  the  assassination  of  the  Austrian  Grand 
Duke. 

With  so  portentous  a  political  situation  impend- 
ing, the  Fraction  could  have,  and  ought  to  have,  come 
to  a  definite  stand;  and  their  stand  in  no  circum- 
stances should  have  wavered  from  what  the  Social 
Democrats  had  always  proclaimed  was  the  one  thing 
binding  upon  them,  that  is,  the  resolutions  and  deci- 
sions of  their  congresses.  And  at  their  congresses  the 
attitude  of  the  Social  Democracy  to  war  in  general 
had  been  made  clear  beyond  a  doubt.  One  thing  the 


i66  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

resolutions  had  brought  out  very  positively,  namely, 
that  the  question  of  which  side  was  the  aggressor  de- 
pended upon  which  side  declared  war. 

In  this  case  it  was  the  German  government  that  de- 
clared war.  The  German  government,  therefore,  was 
the  aggressor. 

This  should  have  given  the  Fraction  pause. 

We  can  understand,  of  course,  that  the  Fraction 
feared  the  government  would  cripple  the  party  and 
make  trouble  for  its  members  should  they  refuse  to 
vote  the  war  credits.  They  also  had  good  grounds  to 
fear  that  the  public,  under  the  horrible  spell  laid  upon 
them,  would  at  the  moment  not  understand  their  re- 
fusal, and  would  even  disapprove  of  it. 

Nevertheless,  the  Fraction  had  no  right  to  let  this 
stand  in  the  way  of  its  principles. 

The  Russian  Socialist  members  of  the  Duma  held 
fast  to  their  principles,  even  though  their  government 
had  not  declared  war. 

The  sentiment  of  the  masses,  which  is  the  only 
thing  that  should  weigh  with  Socialists,  would  soon 
have  swung  round — in  fact,  it  did — and  would  have 
veered  even  sooner  had  the  people  seen  that  the 
Fraction  refused  all  responsibility  for  the  war. 
After  all,  the  government  would  not  have  dared  to 
do  anything  serious  to  the  representatives  of  the  la- 


German  Social  Democracy  and  the  War    167 

boring  people,  and  by  this  time  the  German  Social 
Democracy  would  be  facing  the  German  people  and 
the  whole  world,  great  and  unassailable. 

If,  in  spite  of  all  this  the  considerations  against 
refusal  to  vote  the  war  credits  had  been  too  great, 
then  the  dictate  of  the  hour  should  have  been  to  with- 
draw and  express  neither  assent  nor  dissent.  That 
would  have  been  much  the  same  as  refusal  and  yet 
would  not  have  brought  down  on  the  Fraction  any 
trouble  at  the  hands  of  either  the  government  or  the 
people,  since  that's  the  sort  of  thing  naturally  to  be 
expected  of  Social  Democrats. 

And  the  whole  responsibility  for  the  war  would 
have  fallen  upon  the  conservative  and  other  parties, 
while  now  the  Social  Democrats  have  their  full  meas- 
ure of  it  to  bear. 

History  will  always  score  it  against  the  Fraction 
as  a  grave  mistake  that  they  did  not  withdraw  and 
refuse  to  vote.  It  was  the  least  they  could  have  done 
in  opposition  to  the  war,  and  no  one  in  the  future 
will  be  able  to  understand  how  they  could  march 
with  colors  flying  straight  into  the  camp  of  militar- 
ism and  imperialism  by  sanctioning  a  war  of  ag- 
gression. 

No  serious  student  of  politics  could  have  been  in 


i68  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

doubt  as  to  the  magnitude  of  the  war  and  its  dis- 
astrous consequences  to  the  whole  world. 

But  the  party  of  "international  brotherhood"  was 
guilty  of  even  more  disgraceful  conduct.  Its  behavior 
in  gratefully  accepting  by  way  of  return  for  its  "fa- 
therland attitude"  the  assurance  of  the  imperial  lord 
that  he  recognizes  no  parties  any  more,  is  highly  in- 
dicative of  German  conditions. 

Well,  the  serious  mistake  made  by  the  representa- 
tives of  the  German  workers,  for  which  millions  of 
workers  in  other  countries  must  pay  with  their  health 
and  their  lives,  can  no  longer  be  repaired,  and  in 
atonement  for  the  vote  of  that  fatal  August  4th,  we 
must  accept  the  lame  excuse  that  the  Social  Democ- 
racy was  not  strong  enough  to  have  prevented  the 
war.  As  if  anybody  had  demanded  such  a  thing. 

One  would  suppose  that  in  the  course  of  the  war 
the  Fraction  would  at  least  have  arrived  at  a  per- 
ception of  its  mistake.  No  such  thing.  "With  the 
exception  of  a  very  few  members,  they  exhibit  not 
the  faintest  consciousness  of  wrongdoing.  It  passes 
human  understanding. 

There  ought  not  to  be  a  single  Socialist  in  politics 
left  who  is  actually  as  blind  as  he  was  on  August  4, 
1914,  and  who  still,  with  all  that  has  become  known 


German  Social  Democracy  and  the  War    169 

since  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  cannot  detect  the  ag- 
gressor. 

A  Social-Democratic  delegate  who  has  not  yet  re- 
gained enough  impartiality  for  this  no  longer  de- 
serves to  be  called  Socialist.  Nothing  distinguishes 
him  from  a  national-liberal  hero  of  the  tongue,  who 
is  ready  to  conquer  the  world  with  other  people's 
property  and  blood,  while  himself  cautiously  remain- 
ing at  home  talking  a  lot  of  drivel  over  his  beer  in 
the  cafe. 

A  Social  Democrat  who  asks  his  French  comrades 
to  meet  him  at  least  half  way  so  that  he  may  conde- 
scendingly extend  the  victor's  hand  to  them,  who 
cannot  see  that  his  French  comrades  actually  are  in 
the  position  of  having  to  defend  their  fatherland 
against  an  invading  enemy,  and  that  their  case  is 
very  different  from  the  case  of  the  German  Social- 
ist— such  an  one  has  learned  nothing  from  the 
slaughter,  but,  on  the  contrary,  has  forgotten  what 
little  he  ever  knew. 

There's  no  more  use  arguing  with  a  man  of  that 
cast  than  with  a  Herr  Bassermann  or  a  Count  Revent- 
low.  One  is  as  hopelessly  insane  as  the  other,  and  no 
rational  man,  however  much  he  may  want  to,  can 
ever  join  the  Social-Democratic  Party  again.  It's  all 
the  more  of  a  shame  and  all  the  more  disheartening 


170  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

that  the  Fraction  is  almost  entirely  composed  of  such 
madmen,  since  these  as  members  of  the  parliament 
meet  with  many  an  opportunity  denied  the  layman 
to  get  at  the  true  facts.  If  they  want  to. 

So  when  Scheidemann  asks  the  enemies  to  agree  to 
Bethmann-Hollweg's  designs  and  permit  him  to  dic- 
tate the  terms  of  peace,  it  is  too  utterly  ridiculous. 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  in  the  secret  committee 
sessions,  he  got  to  know  the  political  situation  and 
all  affairs  connected  with  the  war  as  they  actually 
are,  not  as  the  Wolff  news  agency  wants  them  to  be. 
And  knowing  the  true  state  of  things,  how  could  he 
ever  have  expected  the  enemies  to  take  such  a  step  ? 

Scheidemann 's  demands  upon  his  French  comrades 
make  a  positively  indecent  impression.  The  French 
are  not  to  eject  the  invading  enemy.  It's  like  asking 
a  man  to  make  excuses  to  a  burglar  who  has  entered 
his  house  and  beg  him  please  not  to  be  angry. 

Because  it's  an  undeniable  fact  that  the  German 
armies  made  their  way  into  France  and  Belgium, 
where  they  had  no  business  to  be.  The  French  and 
Belgian  armies  did  not  make  their  way  into  Ger- 
many. 

So  a  Socialist,  at  least,  can  not  honorably  demand 
a  peace  that  presupposes  a  German  victory.  A  So- 
cialist has  no  right  to  insist  that  unless  they  yield  to 


German  Social  Democracy  and  the  War    171 

such  terms,  the  war  must  continue  because  they 
wanted  to  crush  Germany. 

Let  us  look  a  little  closer  at  Herr  Scheidemann 's 
tactics. 

He  declares  he  is  opposed  to  annexations,  and  even 
has  the  brazenness  to  tell  his  constituents  that  the 
government  is  also  opposed  to  annexations.  I  con- 
sider he  is  not  acting  in  good  faith.  I  believe  his 
tactics  are  dishonorable. 

A  man  who  after  Bethmann-Hollweg  ?s  declaration 
concerning  indemnities  in  both  the  east  and  the  west 
and  concerning  the  enemies'  deprivation  of  gateways 
by  which  to  attack  Germany  in  the  future,  a  man  who 
after  that  can  say  the  government  has  no  intention 
of  annexing  foreign  territory,  is  either  an  idiot  or — 
he  knows  better. 

And  if  Scheidemann  actually  is  incapable  of  ex- 
tracting the  government's  designs  from  the  chancel- 
lor's speeches,  then  his  eyes  might  be  opened  by  a 
perusal  of  the  comments  made  by  the  "fatherland" 
press,  especially  the  official  ratifications  of  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg 's  real  intention  published  in  the  Nord- 
deutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung. 

Evidently  it  is  Scheidemann 's  purpose  to  deny 
Bethmann-Hollweg 's  hankerings  for  annexation  so 
that  he  can  be  answerable  to  his  comrades  for  un- 


172  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

waveringly  supporting  the  government's  war  policy. 
He  maintains  it  is  because  of  the  enemy's  not  being 
prepared  for  peace  that  the  German  workers  must 
keep  up  the  fight. 

But  he  doesn't  say  why  they  are  not  ready  for 
peace,  although  he  must  know.  Everybody  else 
knows.  They  are  not  ready  for  peace  just  because 
of  Germany's  greed  for  annexation,  which  is  some- 
thing they  will  in  no  circumstances  tolerate. 

To  be  sure  the  chancellor  often  declared  himself 
ready  for  peace — a  German  dictated  peace.  But  the 
others  don't  want  what  he  wants,  that  is,  wide 
stretches  of  territory  taken  from  the  French,  the  Bel- 
gians, the  Russians.  Therefore,  you  can't  help  your- 
self, the  war  simply  has  to  go  on  interminably  with 
the  expressed  sanction  of  the  Social-Democratic  ma- 
jority. 

If  Scheidemann  really  means  to  pursue  Socialist 
tactics,  the  only  sort  he  ought  to  pursue,  he  must  not 
content  himself  with  generalities  on  the  desirability 
of  peace,  but  say  clearly  and  sharply,  "The  German 
Social  Democracy  is  against  all  annexations.  The 
chancellor  must  openly  and  unambiguously  declare 
in  the  Reichstag  that  on  this  point  he  agrees  with 
the  Social  Democrats;  and  the  chancellor  must  also 


German  Social  Democracy  and  the  War    173 

declare  himself  prepared  immediately  to  conclude 
peace  on  the  basis  of  no  annexations." 

If  the  chancellor  were  to  do  this  and  if  his  state- 
ment were  to  be  made  formally  known,  and  if  the 
enemy  governments  were  still  to  refuse  to  enter  into 
peace  negotiations,  then,  and  then  only,  would 
Scheidemann  be  justified  in  saying  that  they  were  not 
ready  for  peace.  Bethmann-Hollweg  's  ' '  very  accepta- 
ble terms"  of  December  12,  1916,  are  utterly  worth- 
less. 

An  observant  man  cannot  fail  to  notice  that  a 
large  number  of  the  Social  Democrats  are  unable  to 
escape  the  influence  of  the  universal  suggestion  that 
is  being  exerted.  They  view  the  war  and  the  political 
situation  and  even  the  economic  situation  in  Germany 
itself  in  exactly  the  same  way  as  the  non-Socialists, 
the  bourgeois.  They  see  everything  in  the  light  of  the 
official  statements,  which  have  never  ceased  to  aim  at 
a  positively  hectic  optimism. 

Since  there  is  so  little  occasion  for  rejoicing,  we 
have  to  resort  for  cheer  to  the  occupied  territory. 
"We  are  in  the  enemy's  country!"  Well,  what  if 
we  are  in  the  enemy's  country?  What's  the  good  of 
it?  Wherein  lies  the  tremendous  advantage  of  being 
nailed  down  in  the  trenches  for  years  without  being 
able  to  budge  1 


174  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

It's  a  prolonged  agony.  That's  all.  And  how  many 
more  months  are  to  pass  the  same  way?  To  be  sure, 
we  are  in  the  enemy's  country,  but,  to  compensate, 
the  enemy  has  conquered  all  the  German  colonies, 
which  have  swallowed  up  so  many  of  our  millions, 
the  enemy  dominates  all  the  seas,  and  the  enemy  con- 
trols all  the  products  of  the  world  for  the  purposes 
of  an  indefinite  prolongation  of  the  war. 

To  me  the  position  of  the  Entente  powers  seems  far 
more  favorable  than  ours  both  in  this  respect  and 
with  respect  to  man-power.  They  can  assuredly  hold 
out  longer  than  the  enclosed  Central  Powers. 

The  greater  number  of  the  Social  Democrats  also 
seem  to  have  adopted  the  perfectly  impossible  hopes 
of  the  successful  issue  of  the  war  that  are  dissemi- 
nated by  the  government  in  order  to  keep  up  the 
people's  spirits. 

"We  want  victory,  we  must  have  victory,  and  we 
will  have  victory!" 

The  ridiculous  fable  of  an  overwhelming  decisive 
victory,  or  a  victory,  at  least,  resulting  from  the 
enemy's  exhaustion  still  finds  enough  believers  with- 
in the  Social  Democracy,  even  after  all  the  disillu- 
sionments  that  Germany  has  now  experienced. 

There 's  nothing  to  be  done  against  such  a  cherished 
self-deception.  But  it  prevents  the  Socialists  from 


German  Social  Democracy  and  the  War    175 

gathering  themselves  together,  even  if  they  wanted 
to,  and  saying :  ' '  We  can  no  longer  sanction  the  war. 
We  can  no  longer  be  responsible  for  it  by  voting  fur- 
ther war  credits."  That  would  still  differentiate 
them  markedly  from  the  other  parties  of  the  Reichs- 
tag, and  they  would  have  the  overwhelming  ma- 
jority of  the  people  with  them.  Of  this  there  can  be 
no  doubt. 

Really,  if  the  Fraction  does  not  at  last  pull  itself 
together,  it  will  lose  the  bit  of  credit  it  still  pos- 
sesses. It  will  expose  itself  to  the  charge  of  caring  as 
little  for  the  people's  sufferings  as  the  other  parties. 

If  the  Social  Democrats  do  not  refuse  to  go  on 
sanctioning  the  war,  they  will  only  be  piling  up  their 
own  guilt.  But  let  them  refuse  now,  and  the  people 
will  see  that  they  at  least  realize  their  mistake  and 
are  trying  all  they  can  to  atone  for  the  dreadful 
wrong  of  August  4,  1914. 

May  the  Fraction  come  to  a  sense  of  its  duty  before 
it  is  too  late! 


XXVI 
VICTORY,  VICTORY! 

NOT  a  day  without  its  victory.  Victories  every- 
where, on  the  western  front,  and  the  eastern  front,  in 
Servia,  on  the  Dardanelles,  in  the  Caucasus,  and  God 
knows  how  many  other  places. 

On  all  the  battlegrounds,  the  daily  inevitable  vic- 
tory. 

And  all  of  Germany's  allies  are  having  victories, 
too,  the  Austrians,  the  Bulgarians,  the  Turks,  but 
chief  of  all  the  Germans  themselves.  The  world  has 
never  seen  anything  to  compare  with  it. 

I  believe  the  Central  Powers  are  victorious  in  spite 
of  themselves,  in  their  very  sleep. 

And  why  so  many  victories?  "We  want  victory, 
we  must  have  victory,  and  we  will  have  victory,"  be- 
cause the  Wolff  Bureau  has  taken  the  matter  in  hand 
and  procures  victories  for  all  the  Central  Powers 
alike. 

The  Wolff  Bureau,  which  is  one  of  the  entrepreneurs 
in  the  business  of  war,  has  '  *  organized ' '  the  victories. 
You  can't  get  anything  else  but  a  victory.  There's 

176 


Victory,  Victory!  177 

nothing  else  to  be  had.  No  arrangements  have  been 
made  for  defeats.  A  special  department  for  defeats 
would  have  to  be  organized,  and  of  course  there 's.  no 
time  for  anything  of  the  sort  now.  At  any  rate  we 
don't  need  a  department  for  defeats,  since  we're  go- 
ing to  keep  on  having  victories  without  interruption 
straight  up  to  the  glorious  final  victory. 

But  if  in  spite  of  all  this,  we  do  actually  suffer  a 
tiny  defeat  somewhere,  why,  then  that's  the  enemy's 
boasting,  or  "the  enemy  has  fabricated  the  defeat  out 
of  whole  cloth."  Not  having  achieved  any  successes 
by  the  sword,  they  have  to  launch  a  campaign  of  lies 
against  us. 

The  Wolff  Bureau  gains  victories  on  the  water, 
too,  not  alone  on  land  and  in  the  air — in  the  Skager- 
Rack,  as  well  as  on  the  Black  Sea — the  color  makes 
no  difference.  It  could  be  having  victories  on  the  Yel- 
low Sea  and  the  Red  Sea,  too. 

First  and  foremost,  the  Wolff  Bureau  obtained  vic- 
tories over  the  Austrian,  Turkish,  and  Bulgarian 
news  agencies,  because  they  haven't  got  the  same  ex- 
cellent * '  organization  "  as  we  and  are  a  long  way  from 
understanding  these  matters  as  well  as  we  do  here  in 
Berlin. 

Probably  the  Austrians,  the  Turks  and  the  Bul- 
garians would  have  had  a  hot  time  of  it  in  the  war  if 


178  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

the  Wolff  Bureau  had  not,  out  of  the  sheer  goodness 
of  its  heart,  stepped  in  and  taken  their  part.  They 
are  lacking  in  imagination  and  inventiveness,  and 
without  these  God-given  qualities  you  can't  have  a 
real  victory. 

How  long  are  we  going  to  keep  on  having  victories  ? 
As  long  as  there  are  credulous  people  to  believe  in 
them,  and  we  still  have  a  goodly  number  of  credulous 
people  on  hand. 

The  Wolff  Bureau  never  lies.  It  says  so  itself. 
And  therefore  it  must  be  true.  Reuter  and  Havas  lie. 
They  carry  on  a  veritable  campaign  of  lies.  No,  the 
Wolff  Bureau  really  doesn't  lie.  At  the  utmost  it  re- 
frains now  and  then  from  telling  the  truth.  But 
that 's  not  the  same  as  lying,  no,  not  a  bit. 

"Wolff"  is  so  engulfed  in  victories  that  in  its  ob- 
session it  forgets  that  even  the  best  thing  in  the 
world  must  come  to  an  end  some  time,  otherwise  it 
will  pall.  So  oughtn't  we  be  permitted  to  ask  Wolff 
to  give  us  a  defeat?  Perhaps  a  defeat  would  be  a 
good  way  of  ending  the  war.  Our  victories  seem  not 
to  be  bringing  the  end  any  nearer. 

But  am  I  expecting  something  out  of  the  way?  Is 
it  that  we  are  to  triumph  ourselves  to  death?  To  be 
sure,  it  would  be  a  beautiful  death,  and  we're  not  far 


Victory,  Victory!  179 

from  it  now,  but  still  it  would  be  a  pity  to  die  so 
soon,  a  pity,  not  for  us,  but  for  the  Wolff  Bureau. 
There  wouldn't  be  anybody  left  to  read  its  voracious 
reports  of  our  daily  victories. 


XXVII 
LIEBKNECHT 

You  are  our  star  of  hope,  the  hope  of  millions.  At 
the  mention  of  your  name  the  first  rays  of  peace  and 
liberty  dawn  on  the  horizon. 

No  one  who  doesn't  know  your  name  knows  what 
courage  is,  fiery  courage  and  glorious  unafraidness. 

You  stand  by  your  conviction  as  firm  as  a  rock  in 
the  seething  waters.  Threats,  contempt,  contumely, 
a  degrading  punishment  have  no  power  to  make  you 
waver  from  your  belief. 

You  are  a  man,  Liebknecht. 

By  force  and  oppression,  in  a  thousand  outrageous 
ways,  the  makers  of  the  war  try  to  keep  all  eyes 
closed  that  want  to  open  to  the  light,  the  light  of  the 
truth  which  says  that  peace  cannot  come,  the  future 
of  the  people  cannot  be  assured,  by  the  shedding  of 
blood  and  violence  done  to  other  nations. 

The  makers  of  the  war  cling  convulsively  to  their 
so-called  victories,  which  never  will  bring  peace. 

And  the  peace  that  victories  might  bring,  a  peace 
180 


Liebknecht  181 

that  would  mean  the  enslavement  of  humanity,  would 
be  too  dreadful.  God  will  never  permit  it. 

The  people  must  not  find  out  that  militarism  knows 
of  no  ladder  by  which  to  bring  them  up  out  of  the 
abyss  into  which  it  has  plunged  them.  Therefore 
their  mortal  hate  of  Liebknecht,  their  vile  persecu- 
tion of  him. 

Unfortunately  our  unspeakable  militarism  finds 
enough  men  to  help  it,  not  only  among  those  who 
profit  by  the  war,  but  even  among  those  who,  like 
Liebknecht,  were  elected  by  the  people  to  lead  them 
along  the  road  to  liberty. 

The  men  who  should  have  no  other  fatherland  than 
the  whole  of  humanity,  the  men  who  at  dozens  of 
congresses  received  as  the  one  rule  of  conduct  the 
world-embracing  doctrine  of  internationalism,  these 
men  in  the  hour  of  danger  forgot  their  principles  and 
turned  themselves  into  hangmen  for  militarism. 

It  will  be  too  late  when  these  duped  and  deluded 
leaders  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  they  have  been 
shamefully  used  as  tools  to  sacrifice  the  whole  peo- 
ple, not  for  the  fatherland,  not  for  the  country's 
happy  future,  but  for  the  profit  of  those  who  scorn 
the  fatherland  and  are  ready  to  murder  it. 

When  these  deluded  deceivers  make  common  cause 
with  imperialism  against  Liebknecht — Liebknecht, 


1 82  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

the  man  of  vision,  who  sees  farther  ahead  than  they, 
Liebknecht  who  would  tear  the  mask  from  off  their 
faces — they  become  particeps  crimims  in  the  bloody 
assault  upon  peaceful  nations,  in  the  schemes  of  con- 
quest and  the  outrageous  orgies  of  race  hatred  willed 
by  the  maniac  imperialism. 

None  of  all  his  friends  has  the  courage  to  follow 
Liebknecht.  They  leave  him  a  prey  to  the  Prussian 
Junkers,  to  the  mortal  enemies  of  the  people,  the 
mortal  enemies  of  liberty.  They  leave  him  to  a  whole 
Reichstag,  which  attacks  and  ridicules  him  and  has 
delivered  him  up  to  so-called  justice. 

They  gagged  him.  He  was  asking  uncomfortable 
questions  and  trying  to  make  speeches.  They  wouldn't 
let  him  ask  questions  and  make  speeches.  They  over- 
powered him  and  knocked  him  down  and  beat  him 
black  and  blue. 

But  the  questions  that  Liebknecht  wanted  to  ask 
are  the  questions  the  people  are  now  asking;  the 
speeches  he  wanted  to  make  are  the  speeches  they 
want  to  hear.  And  if  nobody  answers  Liebknecht 's 
questions,  the  people  some  day  will  answer  them 
themselves  and  shriek  the  answers  into  the  ears  of 
those  who  betrayed  them. 

Yet,  even  if  they  did  gag  Liebknecht,  the  people 
now  know  what  he  tried  to  say,  because  it  is  their 


Liebknecht  183 

own  voice  speaking  out  of  his  mouth.    It  is  the  out- 
cry of  millions  suffering  in  stifled  agony. 

God  save  you,  Liebknecht!  The  night  of  your  im- 
prisonment will  soon  be  over.  Soon  you  will  be  see- 
ing the  light  of  the  dawn  which  will  bring  liberty  to 
you  and  peace  to  mankind. 


XXVIII 
SWEEP  BEFORE  YOUR  OWN  DOOR 

EVERY  newspaper  man  has  most  shocking  things  to 
tell  of  Russian  corruption,  English  hypocrisy,  French 
vanity,  and  Italian  perfidy. 

He  writes  of  these  qualities  with  evident  gusto  and 
a  specialist's  knowledge  of  his  subject,  recounting  all 
the  outrages  the  enemy  nations  have  been  guilty  of 
since  their  appearance  in  history,  showing  how 
wicked  and  ignorant  even  their  so-called  great  men 
have  been,  and  pointing  out  that  these  same  great 
men  have  often  been  obliged  to  hold  the  mirror  up 
to  their  own  countrymen  for  them  to  see  how  much 
wickeder  and  more  ignorant  they  are  than  even  the 
great  men,  and  also  how  deceitful,  mean,  hypocrit- 
ical, coarse,  lazy,  foul-mouthed,  cruel,  tricky,  per- 
jured, greedy,  lying,  impudent,  extravagant,  ruffian- 
ly, and  everything  else. 

So  we  Germans  can  sit  comfortably  back,  full  of 
righteous  indignation,  and  let  our  enemies  themselves 
pronounce  sentence  upon  their  people.  In  this  re- 
spect for  once  the  enemies  happen  to  speak  the  truth. 

184 


Sweep  Before  Your  Own  Door      185 

We  can  save  ourselves  all  the  mental  effort  of  ex- 
ercising the  very  necessary  duties  of  a  judge.  More- 
over, we  need  not  prove  a  single  assertion.  The  en- 
emies '  great  men  must  know  even  better  than  we  what 
miserable  curs  their  fellow-citizens  are. 

The  German  reader,  favorably  inclined  at  any  rate, 
has  been  glad  to  believe  what  he  sees  in  the  papers 
and  would  be  ready  to  believe  still  more. 

Foreign  newspapers  carry  almost  daily  reports  of 
sharp  criticisms  launched  in  the  various  parliaments 
against  the  conduct  of  their  respective  administra- 
tions ;  and  even  the  newspapers  themselves  do  not  re- 
frain from  faultfinding  when  things  done  by  their 
governments  do  not  please  them;  which  seems  to  be 
the  case  quite  frequently. 

It  does  look,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  as  though  the  ''cor- 
rupt politicians"  governing  the  enemy  nations  were 
utterly  worthless.  So  different  from  here !  Why,  our 
government  in  all  its  existence  has  never  made  a  sin- 
gle mistake. 

Yes,  there  are  all  sorts  of  rumors  afloat  about  the 
enemy  nations.  They  must  be  a  dreadful  lot;  their 
governments  must  be  rotten  to  the  core.  An  awful 
fate  is  in  store  for  them. 

The  Wolff  Bureau  thrills  with  ecstasy  over  dis- 
agreements among  the  Entente  Allies.  Soon, 


1 86  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

"Wolff"  prophesies,  their  house  of  cards  will  come 
tumbling  about  their  ears. 

The  German  sees  this  black  on  white  in  his  daily 
and  swallows  it  whole.  It 's  all  true,  he  thinks.  Why 
not  ?  We  don 't  have  to  lie.  Only  the  enemy  has  to  lie. 

Why  should  the  common  run  of  the  German  people, 
who  derive  all  their  knowledge  of  foreign  affairs  from 
these  veracious  accounts,  be  permitted  to  suspect  that 
the  citizens  of  the  enemy  countries  are  free  men  and 
say  what  they  feel  like  saying  without  let  or  hindrance 
from  above?  That  they  are  allowed  to  criticize,  in 
fact,  feel  an  obligation  to  criticize,  and  that  they  ex- 
aggerate faults  so  as  to  make  all  the  surer  of  cor- 
recting them? 

No,  the  German  need  not  and  may  not  have  any 
such  suspicion.  Foreign  governments  must  be  rep- 
resented to  him  as  thoroughly  corrupt,  so  that  he 
should  rejoice  in  the  evil  conditions  prevailing  abroad 
and  the  perfect  conditions  prevailing  at  home. 

If  Michel  were  to  suspect  the  true  state  of  af- 
fairs it  might  occur  to  him — might  but  probably 
wouldn't — to  wonder  why  all  the  other  nations  are 
governed  by  men  with  human  failings,  while  Prusso- 
Germany  is  governed  by  infallible  Prussian  demi- 
gods. In  the  end  he  might  begin  to  question  whether 
after  all  our  demi-gods  are  actually  infallible  or 


Sweep  Before  Your  Own  Door      187 

whether  they  simply  make  it  appear  so  by  preventing 
all  criticism. 

The  heralds  of  the  press  who  proclaim  the  infallibil- 
ity of  the  Prussian  government  and  follow  up  the 
mistakes  of  the  enemy  governments  like  sleuths  may, 
some  of  them,  do  so  in  good  faith,  only  they  seem  to 
have  lost  all  measure  of  the  true  state  of  affairs. 

Most  of  them,  however,  are  a  bad,  venal  lot.  They 
make  capital  of  the  present  juncture,  knowing  very 
well  how  to  secure  good  pay  for  their  patriotic  ac- 
tivity as  watchdogs  for  the  government. 

They  are  the  true  pirates  of  public  opinion  and 
in  the  same  honorable  class  as  the  war  promoters  and 
war  profiteers. 

The  few  persons  in  Germany  who  have  preserved 
their  level-headedness  and  coolness  of  judgment  even 
in  the  stress  of  wartime  and  are  incapable  of  exploit- 
ing the  people 's  misfortune,  have  less  of  a  chance  now 
than  ever  in  their  own  country.  They  may  not  move 
their  lips. 

Silence  is  imposed  upon  them,  not  because  there  is 
nothing  to  criticize  in  the  government,  but  because 
our  infallible  government  dreads  them,  being  so  fully 
conscious  of  its  fallibility  and  wrongdoing  that  it 
needs  the  swords  of  a  thousand  censorship  generals 
to  guard  it  effectively  against  criticism. 


1 88  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

Our  government  is  in  such  a  state  of  alarm  that  it 
has  its  infallibility  proclaimed  every  day  in  every 
variety  of  pitch  and  tone. 

If  it  has  done  no  other  wrong,  it  has  at  least  com- 
mitted the  greatest  wrong  of  all.  It  has  brought  about 
this  war. 

So,  sweep  before  the  enemy's  door.  Don't  sweep 
before  your  own  door.  It  might  raise  too  much  dust. 


XXIX 
THE  PAN-GERMANS 

VALIANT  Teutonic  heroes  of  the  beer  table,  simple- 
tons partly  and  partly  criminals! 

Sensible  people  have  had  many  a  hearty  laugh  over 
these  warriors  of  the  tongue,  who  strut  about,  chests 
out  like  pouters,  these  starched-collar  clerks  who  sit 
warming  their  seats  the  whole  day  long,  these  school 
teachers  and  professors  who  dish  up  chauvinistic 
nonsense  and  turn  the  heads  of  poor  callow  youths. 

Who  in  Germany  doesn't  know  them  and  their  dis- 
torted views  of  men  and  the  world?  We  are  all  fa- 
miliar with  them  from  our  school  days  up. 

The  larger  number  of  Germans  never  recover  from 
the  strange  ideas  with  which  they  have  been  inocu- 
lated in  school.  They  always  see  international  rela- 
tions in  the  same  peculiar  perspective.  The  few  of 
us  who  in  spite  of  all  the  difficulties  in  the  way  have 
succeeded  in  lifting  ourselves  out  of  the  mire  of  Pan- 
Germanism  have  had  many  a  hard  fight  to  fight  with 
ourselves. 

Ah,  we  see  our  valiant  warriors,  all  puffed  up, 
marching  along  triumphantly,  marching  on  to  Val- 

189 


190  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

halla,  Herr  school  teacher  and  Herr  professor  and 
Herr  assistant  district  attorney,  all  marching  along 
seated  at  their  beer  table  and  amid  high  discourse 
healing  the  world  of  all  its  wounds*  by  means  of 
their  excellent  Teutschtum.'f 

They  empty  their  seidels  to  the  health  of  a  world 
that  is  to  be  teutsch  from  ocean  to  ocean.  Nothing 
less  will  do. 

The  uninstructed  observer  would  take  them  to  be 
nothing  but  a  lot  of  innocents  whose  ideas  have  no 
bearing  upon  actuality. 

An  egregious  misconception.  In  the  Teutonic  com- 
edy that  they  are  enacting,  shrewd  calculation  is  play- 
ing an  important  role.  They  know  very  well  that 
their  Teutschtum  is  being  looked  down  upon  benevo- 
lently from  up  above,  that  a  high  value  is  put  upon 
them  for  their  aid  in  stultifying  the  rising  genera- 
tion, and  that  they  have  a  better  prospect  of  quick 
promotion  the  more  insistently  they  display  their  en- 
thusiasm for  Germanism  and  the  fatherland. 

How  often  we've  been  irritated  or  tickled,  as  the 
case  may  be,  by  the  Pan-German  professors  who  prove 
scientifically  that  Dante  or  Michelangelo  or  Leonardo 
da  Vinci  were  not  Italians  but  good  old  Germans. 

*  A   reference    to    a   patriotic    song. 
t  -Deutschtum,  meaning  Germanism. 


The  Pan-Germans  191 

All  of  us  have  met  the  professors  who  hunt  through 
the  pages  of  foreign  history  for  the  one  object  of 
finding  famous  men  who  can  possibly  be  made  into 
Germans  by  means  of  scientific  humbuggery. 

Is  there  a  single  man  of  renown  beginning  with 
Praxiteles  or  Alexander  the  Great  or  even  Homer 
whom  these  professors  have  allowed  to  remain  with 
the  nation  to  which  they  were  born?  On  the  con- 
trary, they  have  put  out  their  hands  to  grab  them 
like  a  naughty  child  trying  to  snatch  away  another 
child's  toys. 

They  have  taken  possession  of  all  the  great  men  to 
transfer  them  to  their  German  Valhalla.  For  it  is 
impossible,  say  the  Pan- German  Michels,  utterly  im- 
possible, that  any  one  belonging  to  another  nation 
should  ever  have  done  anything  great  or  good. 

The  journalistic  satellites  of  the  Pan-Germans,  the 
' '  fatherland ' '  newspapers,  like  the  Munchner  Neueste 
Nachricthen,  have  shrewdly  calculated  for  the  good 
of  their  own  business  that  it  pays  to  flatter  the  pub- 
lic, which  has  no  powers  of  independent  judgment. 
So  the  press  is  always  ready  to  blazon  forth  the 
great  German  "  scientific "  discoveries,  since  it  must 
greatly  flatter  Herr  butcher  Wammerl  or  Herr  baker 
Kipferl  when,  reading  his  paper  over  his  cup  of 
coffee,  he  sees  that  this  great  Italian  or  that  eminent 


192  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

Greek  (of  whom  he  has  never  before  heard,  to  be 
sure,  but  who  must  be  great,  because  the  newspaper 
says  he  is  great)  is  really  not  an  Italian  and  not  a 
Greek  but  a  Deitscher*  a  German,  just  as  much  of  a 
German  as  he  is  himself. 

Sometimes  it  makes  your  blood  boil  in  your  veins 
to  see  all  the  stultifying,  mendacious  nonsense  that 
appears  in  the  Pan-German  newspapers.  The  makers 
of  public  opinion  are  fools,  race-baiters,  men  who 
traffic  in  misleading  thought.  But  they  understand 
the  times  they  are  living  in  most  excellently.  Their 
large  editions  and  advertisement  pages  prove  that 
they  do. 

Who  weighs  their  share  of  the  guilt  in  the  slaughter 
of  the  nations  now  raging?  It  is  enormous.  Shrewd- 
ly cultivating  a  whole  nation 's  megalomania,  the  Pan- 
German  press  and  its  backers  have  for  years  been 
systematically  fomenting  race  hatred  and  have  been 
piling  up  inflammable  material  for  the  great  explo- 
sion that  has  just  gone  off. 

The  Pan-German  chauvinists  have  first-rate  sources 
of  information.  In  the  spring  of  1914  they  already 
knew  that  there  would  be  war  in  the  summer  of  1914. 
No  wonder.  They  are  in  close  touch  with  the  gov- 

*  -Veutscher,  meaning  ' '  a  German, ' ' 


The  Pan-Germans  193 

eminent  and  with  the  policy  of  William  II,  whose 
ideals  are  near  enough  to  their  own. 

What  better  proof  can  you  want  that  the  Pan- 
Germans  knew  of  the  war  beforehand  than  the  cam- 
paign for  Red  Cross  funds  launched  by  the  Pan- 
German  press  in  May,  1914,  and  given  such  tremen- 
dous publicity  and  accompanied  by  such  mysterious, 
sinister  allusions?  They  could  hardly  have  chosen  a 
plainer  way  to  tell  the  German  people  what  was  com- 
ing. 

The  Pan-German  agitators  knew  full  well  that  mat- 
ters had  gone  as  far  as  this  and  that  the  Red  Cross 
would  soon  be  having  something  to  do. 

They  knew  when  the  thing  would  come  off  and  that 
the  seeds  of  national  hatred  which  they  had  persist- 
ently sowed  were  now  sprouting  and  ripening  and 
awaiting  the  reaper. 

These  Pan-German  criminals,  these  Herr  school 
teachers  and  Herr  professors,  and  Herr  clerks  and 
Herr  butchers  and  bakers,  bear  their  full  measure  of 
guilt  for  the  blood  now  being  shed  throughout  the 
world. 


XXX 

THE  CENSOKSHIP 

"THE  eavesdropper  hearkens  to  tales  of  his  own 
disgrace. ' ' 

This  old  German  maxim  serves  well  as  a  preface  to 
observations  on  the  way  censorship  is  practiced  here 
in  Germany. 

When  one  reads  the  adjurations  and  threats  di- 
rected to  travelers,  which  appear  at  least  once  a 
week;  when  one  hears  that  at  the  border  travel- 
ers' visiting  cards  and  newspapers  and  even  train 
schedules  are  mercilessly  confiscated,  one  realizes  that 
the  Prussians  must  be  terribly  afraid  that  the  truth 
may  leak  out  about  the  conditions  in  Germany. 

Evidently,  it  is  in  the  fear  of  not  being  able  to 
conceal  their  * '  own  disgrace, ' '  that  they  take  to  eaves- 
dropping and  nosing  about  in  all  printed  and  written 
matter  to  see  if  there  isn't  something  mortifying  to 
themselves  in  it. 

Their  bad  conscience  reveals  itself  in  a  perfectly 
absurd  dread.  But  nobody  is  to  notice  it.  So  they 
tell  the  public  that  the  eavesdropping  is  done  for  the 

194 


The  Censorship  195 

sake  of  military  information.  None  but  a  simpleton 
would  believe  that.  How  in  the  name  of  common 
sense  is  an  ordinary  German  to  secure  military  in- 
formation outside  of  what  appears  in  all  the  dailies? 
It  would  be  a  miracle  if  he  could. 

Censorship  may  be  necessary  in  wartime.  Liberty- 
loving  France  has  it,  and  also  democratic  England. 
And  in  actual  practice  it  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of 
whether  there  is  censorship  or  not  as  the  way  cen- 
sorship is  handled,  so  that  in  this  respect  as  well  as 
in  the  many  other  respects  mentioned  in  this  book 
the  difference  between  practice  in  Germany  and  prac- 
tice in  democratic  countries  becomes  instantly  ap- 
parent. 

The  democratic  governments,  it  is  noticeable,  have 
nothing  to  conceal  either  from  their  own  people  or 
from  the  outside  world,  and  censorship  is  actually 
limited  to  such  things  as  may  be  of  direct  use  to  the 
enemy.  Nor  could  it  be  otherwise.  The  people  them- 
selves have  a  voice  in  the  conduct  of  affairs  and  can 
let  the  administration  know  to  what  extent  they  are 
prepared  to  restrict  themselves  for  their  country's 
sake. 

But  as  for  Germany !  The  people  here  have  noth- 
ing to  say.  They  must  simply  stand  stiff  as  soldiers 


196  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

on  drill  and  keep  their  mouths  shut.  They  are  never 
asked  what  they  want,  most  certainly  not. 

The  first  act  of  our  government  in  the  war  was  to 
place  the  nation  in  a  state  of  siege.  No  other  bellig- 
erent country  has  done  that.  Militarism  was  made 
absolute  lord  and  master  over  every  living,  breathing 
thing  in  Germany. 

Intolerable  restrictions  were  imposed  on  the  peo- 
ple, who  were  deprived  of  the  right  even  to  say 
whether  or  not  they  would  or  could  bear  these  re- 
strictions. 

Prussian  militarism  gave  orders,  and  the  people 
obeyed;  and  ever  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the 
sword  alone  has  held  sway  in  the  land  over  every 
province  of  human  life,  by  no  means  excepting  spir- 
itual matters.  What  a  tremendous  opportunity  the 
state  of  siege  has  given  militarism  for  suppressing 
the  last  remnant  of  the  people's  right  to  self-deter- 
mination ! 

It  was  not  every  day  that  such  opportunities  pre- 
sented themselves  to  militarism,  even  in  the  police 
state  of  Prusso- Germany,  and  nobody,  therefore, 
would  expect  militarism  to  avail  itself  of  the  oppor- 
tunities in  any  way  but  one  thoroughly  corresponding 
to  its  character. 

For  these  few  years,  therefore,  the  genuine  Prus- 


The  Censorship  197 

sian  spirit  has  held  sole  sway  in  the  land,  and  the 
censorship  sword,  wielded  by  a  general  who  was 
probably  too  stupid  for  war  operations,  has  had  ab- 
solute authority  over  the  whole  nation. 

A  man  who  had  spent  his  entire  life,  apparently  in 
vain,  trying  to  get  into  his  noddle  the  science  of  the 
best  and  quickest  way  to  kill  the  largest  number  of 
human  beings,  whose  one  study  was  the  dealing  of 
death  and  destruction,  was  suddenly  called  to  guide 
the  mind  of  the  great  German  nation  and  give  it  a 
rule  of  conduct. 

To  be  sure,  he  cannot  make  many  mistakes  in  his 
administration.  He  has  an  infallible  guide,  the  as- 
surance that  everything  must  be  absolutely  subordi- 
nated to  the  interests  of  militarism. 

The  welfare  of  the  people,  even  the  most  urgent 
needs  are  taken  into  consideration  only  in  so  far  as 
they  promote  the  aims  of  militarism. 

Therefore,  anybody  who  awakens  men's  lowest  in- 
stincts and  incites  men  to  hatred  and  bloodshed  may 
be  sure  of  meeting  with  full  approval  and  active 
support. 

The  more  bloodthirsty  a  man's  utterances,  the  more 
vociferous  and  insistent  the  patriot,  and  the  more 
praiseworthy  his  sentiments. 

Every  noble  impulse  of  the  human  spirit,  all  rea- 


198  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

son,  every  move  for  conciliation,  is  suppressed  as  out 
of  place  or  premature. 

This  is  what  they  call  "civil  peace/'  It  has  a 
frightful  resemblance  to  the  peace  of  the  grave.  In 
fact,  it  is  the  grave  of  the  spirit,  no  opponent  of  con- 
tinued murder  having  the  chance  to  express  his  opin- 
ion and  so  disturb  the  ''civil  peace." 

This,  of  course,  greatly  promotes  the  objects  of  mil- 
itarism. The  masses  depend  for  their  ideas  upon 
what  they  read  in  print,  and  only  the  fewest  ever  stop 
to  think  that  the  reason  they  are  given  nothing  else 
to  read  is  that  nothing  else  may  be  published. 

The  censorship  is  supposed  to  serve  another  pur- 
pose beside  the  influencing  of  the  people  at  home.  It 
ought  to  mold  public  opinion  abroad  also  and  give 
the  outside  world  an  impression  of  the  genuine  ex- 
istence of  unity  in  Germany.  A  pious  wish,  however. 
Our  censorship  does  nothing  of  the  sort. 

The  outside  world  is  not  so  easily  to  be  deceived. 
Even  the  keenest  of  censorships  and  the  most  arrogant 
of  assertions  won't  hide  cold  facts  except  for  a  brief 
period. 

Moreover,  the  utter  indignation  of  men  enraged  by 
the  attempted  enslavement  of  their  souls  finds  its  way 
into  other  countries  through  a  thousand  channels, 


The  Censorship  199 

and  there  secures  a  publicity  denied  them  in  their 
own  country. 

What  a  sublime  feeling  must  animate  the  Prussian 
Junkers  to-day  when  they  see  their  dream  of  tram- 
pling upon  the  spiritual  life  of  the  German  nation 
so  gloriously  realized.  At  last  they  can  do  without 
restraint  what  they  have  long  been  entirely  pre- 
vented from  doing,  that  is,  they  can  simply  use  the 
sword  of  the  censor  to  forbid  what  doesn't  suit  them. 

They  need  not  give  any  reasons  for  a  prohibition. 
There  is  a  magic  phrase  that  suffices,  " state  of  siege." 
How  simple,  how  gloriously  easy! 

The  state  of  siege  has  stood  the  test  so  thoroughly 

i 

that  the  Junkers  are  dreaming  of  keeping  it  up  even 
in  times  of  peace.  Can  there  be  anything  lovelier, 
they  think,  than  the  mild  words,  "civil  peace"  and 
"unity"? 

They  don't  go  about  the  censorship  openly,  but  try 
to  keep  it  invisible ;  which  is  a  bit  of  secretiveness  and 
dissimulation  highly  indicative  of  the  true  Prussian 
spirit. 

They  are  ready  to  practice  censorship  in  the  most 
unscrupulous  fashion.  But  don't  let  people  see  there 
is  censorship.  Make  them  believe  that  what  they 
read  in  the  papers  is  the  true  uninfluenced  opinion  of 
the  large  public. 


aoo  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

Such,  cowardly  dishonesty,  such  crafty  deception 
of  the  public,  joined  to  a  dread  of  responsibility,  re- 
veal a  depth  of  immorality  to  which  it  could  scarcely 
be  believed  a  class  of  people  would  sink. 

This  sort  of  censorship  has  been  reserved  for 
Prusso-Germany  alone,  and  if  anything,  it  is  the 
Prussian  censorship  that  shows  the  low  place  that 
our  country  has  taken  among  the  civilized  nations. 


XXXI 

PRUSSIAN  MILITARISM 

" WHERE  should  we  be  now  if  it  weren't  for  Prus- 
sian militarism  ?  Prussian  militarism  is  the  one  thing 
that  has  saved  us  from  being  crushed." 

A  vapid  remark,  yet  one  repeated  again  and  again 
and  uttered  in  tones  of  the  profoundest  conviction. 
The  German  is  so  ensnared  in  the  ideas  of  militarism, 
and  its  catchwords  have  become  so  intimate  a  part  of 
his  being,  that  he  can  see  nothing  but  a  justification 
of  militarism  even  in  the  fact  of  this  war.  He  simply 
can't  help  himself. 

If  you  say  to  him,  "My  dear  man,  you're  wrong. 
It's  the  very  reverse.  We  shouldn't  be  having  the 
war  now  if  it  were  not  for  Prussian  militarism/'  It, 
opens  his  eyes  uncomprehendingly.  There  isn't  one 
German  in  a  thousand  who  gets  at  the  truth  of  tli 
situation. 

The  absolute  necessity  for  militarism  seems  to  have 
been  hammered  into  every  German's  cranium  so  hard 
that  if  you  try  to  get  the  idea  out  of  his  head,  his 
brains  come  along  with  it. 

201 


202  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

The  picture  the  German  has  formulated  of  the 
world  would  dissolve  into  nothingness  were  he  to  at- 
tempt to  conceive  of  it  minus  militarism.  The  con- 
stant repetition  of  catchwords  has  crippled  his  pow- 
ers of  independent  thought. 

If  you  want  to  go  at  the  thing  with  him  scientifi- 
cally and  dig  down  for  the  roots,  he  asserts  that  mili- 
tarism is  in  accord  with  the  Germanic  character.  He 
forgets  that  his  native  land  is  Germanic  in  only  a 
very  limited  degree  and  is  strongly  shot  through  with 
Slavic  elements. 

The  nations  that  are  akin  to  the  Prussians,  while 
of  far  purer  Germanic  stock  than  the  fathers  of  mili- 
tarism, do  not  cultivate  militarism  as  an  end  in  itself. 
The  Swiss,  the  Dutch,  the  Danes,  and  the  Swedes 
have  no  love  for  this  Prussian  institution.  Southern 
and  western  Germany  are  militaristic  because  they 
have  been  Prussianized. 

If  one  wants  to  obtain  a  proper  estimate  of  the 
value  or  lack  of  value  of  militarism  for  the  world  in 
general  and  the  German  people  in  particular,  the  first 
question  one  must  ask  is  whether  its  basic  tendencies 
are  constructive  or  destructive.  The  answer  is  ob- 
vious, especially  after  the  experiences  in  this  war. 
Any  man  free  from  prejudice  and  unhampered  by  a 
glut  of  catchwords  in  his  brain  will  find  only  the  one 


Prussian  Militarism  203 

answer.  He  needs  no  scientific  authorities  to  guide 
him. 

Those  who  profit  by  militarism  have  never  been 
at  a  loss  to  justify  it.  Defense  of  the  fatherland, 
they  say,  is  its  main  task  and  next  to  that  the  ex- 
pansion of  Germany's  trade. 

But  our  fatherland  needed  no  defense.  It  was  not 
attacked.  It  did  the  attacking.  The  German  decla- 
rations of  war  against  France  and  Russia  make  that 
plain.  And  as  for  the  expansion  of  Germany 's  trade, 
it  had  better  been  left  to  our  German  merchants,  who 
have  devoted  themselves  to  this  pursuit  with  energy 
and  success  for  centuries — with  more  success  doubt- 
less than  militarism  will  ever  be  able  to  place  to  its 
credit. 

On  examination,  both  causes  given  for  the  necessity 
of  militarism  burst  like  a  pricked  bubble.  They  are 
threadbare  pretexts  for  bringing  on  the  "joyous  war" 
for  which  militarism  had  long  been  preparing  and 
ardently  yearning.  Militarism  has  never  been  at  a 
loss  to  find  a  cause  for  war.  Any  pretext  will  do. 

The  real  task  of  Prussian  militarism,  beside  that  of 
killing  and  destroying,  lies  in  a  field  very  remote 
from  defense  of  the  people  and  the  expansion  of 
trade.  It  has  to  do  with  something  directly  opposed 


204  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

to  the  people's  welfare.  For  that  reason  its  real  task 
is  cleverly  kept  concealed. 

The  real  task  of  Prussian  militarism  is  to  maintain 
antiquated  conditions  in  Germany,  conditions  that 
without  its  steady  support  would  have  passed  long 
ago.  Militarism  must  uphold  the  Prussian  throne  as 
well  as  the  thrones  of  the  twenty-one  other  federated 
kingdoms  and  principalities.  This  is  its  sole  task  in 
times  of  peace,  and  it  is  for  this  purpose  that  the 
Germans  have  spent  untold  millions. 

Militarism  by  its  strong-handed  methods  forces 
upon  the  German  people  the  ridiculous  rule  of  twenty- 
two  idlers,  with  their  princes  and  princesses  and 
everything  else  thereunto  appertaining. 

Militarism  and  divine  right,  one  as  absurd  as  the 
other  in  modern  times,  ought  long  ago  to  have  been 
shattered  to  pieces  against  the  resistance  of  a  civil- 
ized nation.  The  world  would  then  have  been  spared 
the  awful  visitation  of  this  war.  As  it  is,  a  united 
world,  a  world  in  the  throes  of  an  immense  agony,  is 
needed  to  make  the  German  people  see  what  the  real 
thing  at  issue  in  the  war  is.  The  world  must  fight 
for  the  liberation  of  the  German  people  against  the 
German  people  themselves. 

It  is  in  this  sense  that  we  must  take  the  English 
minister  when  he  said  that  the  allies  did  not  wish  to 


Prussian  Militarism  20$ 

crush  the  German  nation  or  interfere  with  its  peace- 
able activities,  but  that  militarism  must  be  crushed, 
and  for  this  the  allies  had  the  will  and  the  power. 

So  be  it.    The  German  people  have  nothing  to  fear. 
Militarism  has  everything  to  fear. 


XXXII 

ASININITIES 

THE  Herr  Rector  magnificus  of  the  Berlin  Uni- 
versity posts  an  announcement  on  the  bulletin  board. 
According  to  the  traditional  custom,  he  affixes  his 
signature,  and  puts  after  it  all  his  titles  and  degrees 
and  honors. 

Among  the  honors  is  listed  the  fact  that  His  Mag- 
nificence is  a  member  of  almost  all  the  academies  of 
the  world  except  the  Paris  academy,  from  which  he 
is  "honorably"  excluded. 

You  look  at  the  bulletin  board  and  clutch  your  head 
in  despair.  After  these  long,  long  months  of  war,  of 
the  most  horrible  blood  bath  the  world  has  ever  ex- 
perienced, the  same  professorial  asininity. 

We  found  an  excuse  for  the  awful  idiocy  of  the 
German  professors,  who  were  to  l '  enlighten ' '  the  neu- 
trals (though  all  they  succeeded  in  doing  was  in 
proving  that  they  themselves  needed  enlightening) ,  in 
the  excitement  of  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

After  the  many  more  things  that  these  shining 
lights  of  science  have  since  then  let  fall  regarding  the 

206 


Asininities  207 

war,  I  find  that  their  excitement  was  highly  exag- 
gerated. At  any  rate,  the  asininity  recorded  on  the 
bulletin  board  cannot  claim  excitement  in  its  excuse. 

We  have  come  to  perceive  that  the  average  German 
professor's  intelligence  has  been  vastly  overestimat- 
ed. His  " excited  enlightening"  of  neutrals  proves 
that  it  has.  An  ass  is  an  ass  even  when  excited. 

What  but  asininity  could  have  impelled  the  Herr 
Eector  after  several  years  of  warfare  to  post  this,  to 
say  the  least,  superfluous  remark  on  the  bulletin 
board? 

Does  he  think  it  was  a  particularly  brilliant  re- 
mark, in  the  most  perfect  taste?  Does  he  count  upon 
the  unthinking  crowd's  approval  of  his  splendid  act 
as  a  proud  friend  of  the  fatherland?  And  does  he 
take  the  Berlin  academicians  for  the  unthinking 
crowd?  They  are  the  only  ones  for  whom  the  an- 
nouncement was  meant. 

Who  can  follow  the  processes  of  a  professor's  mind? 

Only  one  thing  comes  out  of  the  various  pronuncia- 
mentoes  issued  by  the  German  professors  in  the  course 
of  this  horrible  war,  and  that  is,  that  the  German  pro- 
fessors have  not  succeeded  in  taking  an  attitude  to- 
ward the  awful  event  which  is  based  upon  humanity 
and  common  sense. 

They  are  still  just  as  prejudiced  and  uncompre- 


2o8  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

bending  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  As  far  as  I 
can  see,  there  are  many  workingmen  and  peasants 
who  formulate  infinitely  more  sensible  ideas  of  the 
origin,  duration,  and  probable  outcome  of  the  war. 

In  no  circumstances  has  professorial  perception  of 
actuality  ever  been  particularly  keen,  so  that  the  peo- 
ple have  never  placed  much  reliance  in  the  capabil- 
ities of  professors  as  politicians.  As  witness  the 
verse  written  long  ago  to  the  Frankfurter  Bundestag, 
that  parliament  of  professors  par  excellence. 

"Professors  fifty  and  five  score! 
0  fatherland,  you  '11  suffer  sore. ' ' 

Following  times  have  only  confirmed  the  popular 
opinion. 

But,  thank  goodness!  there  are  exceptions  even 
among  German  professors.  There  are  a  few  of  them 
that  show  a  human,  unprejudiced  reaction  to  the 
war.  Yet  alas,  alas,  these  are  the  refined  souls  who 
shrink  from  publicity,  so  that  it  is  the  others  alone 
who  get  the  people's  ears. 

Their  day,  however,  is  coming.  Some  think  it  is 
already  here! 

For  the  present  the  donkeys  hold  the  stage  and 
fill  the  ears  of  the  people  with  their  braying,  sure 


Asininities  209 

of  the  people's  applause.  Their  cleverness,  their 
courage  now  come  into  full  appreciation.  Which  is 
the  reason,  probably,  for  the  opinion  that  there  are 
no  sensible  professors  at  all  but  only — donkeys  and 
donkeys. 


XXXIII 

BLUFF! 

Bluff  Number  One:  The  U-Boat  Warfare 

BLUFF  !  Prussian  bluff !  I  still  see  myself  standing 
on  the  Marienplatz  in  Munich  on  a  February  after- 
noon in  1915.  A  crowd  was  besieging  the  open-air 
bulletin  boards,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  I  could 
elbow  my  way  through  and  read  the  news.  What 
was  it?  One  of  our  daily  victories?  Scarcely.  A 
victory  would  not  draw  such  numbers.  We  had  got 
used  to  victories. 

The  people  who  turned  and  made  their  way  out  of 
the  throng  had  a  serious,  thoughtful  expression  on 
their  faces.  So,  no  victory  this  time. 

At  last  I  could  see  for  myself  what  it  was.  The 
announcement  of  the  U-boat  warfare. 

In  brief  curt  words  the  admiralty  proclaimed  that 
English  transport  ships  crossing  the  Channel  would 
be  sunk.  Nothing  more  or  less. 

It  struck  me  like  a  thunderbolt.  And  apparently 
it  produced  the  same  effect  upon  every  one  who  read 

210 


Bluff!  211 

the  news.  My  knees  shook.  I  was  all  excitement. 
The  menace  to  England  was  really  serious  now.  The 
English  transports  were  to  be  sunk. 

Why,  yes,  it  was  very  simple.  You  had  the  troops 
all  neatly  gathered  together  on  the  ships,  and  our 
soldiers  would  be  spared  the  nuisance  of  fighting  them 
in  France  and  Belgium. 

You  already  had  a  vision  of  the  whole  thing.  You 
saw  the  torpedoed  vessels  going  down  and  countless 
Tommies  splashing  about  in  the  icy  water  and  then 
disappearing. 

After  the  nerve-racking  announcement,  we  waited, 
waited  greedily,  and  kept  on  waiting,  and  still  are 
waiting.  So  far  not  a  single  English  transport  has 
been  sunk.  Oh,  yes,  just  one.  One  has  been  sunk  in 
the  columns  of  the  Munchner  Neueste  Nachrichten. 
Every  last  man  on  board  went  down  with  the  vessel. 

Bluff!    Prussian  bluff! 

Bluff  Number  Two:  Prussia's  Wealth 

On  every  fitting  and  unfitting  occasion  Herr  Helf- 
ferich  tells  us  proudly  of  Prussia's  enormous  wealth. 
How  lightly  he  conjures  up  millions  for  the  war! 
Requires  no  machinery  for  it  at  all. 

But  contrast  his  high-sounding  phrases  with  the 


212  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

tremendous  campaign  carried  on  to  raise  the  war 
loans.  Not  the  tiniest,  remotest  Bavarian  village  es- 
capes. That  humble  soliciting,  that  begging  even  of 
children  and  the  poor  to  sacrifice  their  pennies  on 
the  altar  of  the  fatherland,  that  influencing  of  the 
people's  minds  through  school  teachers  and  public 
officials — a  remarkable  contrast  to  Helfferich's 
phrases.  So  what,  in  the  light  of  this  contrast,  be- 
comes of  the  vast  Prussian  wealth  upon  which  Herr 
Helfferich  keeps  harping? 

If  our  minister  of  finance  were  actually  as  rich  as 
he  says  he  is,  he  shouldn't  have  to  go  whining  and 
begging  and  forcing  us  here  in  Bavaria  to  give  up 
our  all  in  return  for  bits  of  hideously  printed  paper, 
which,  according  to  all  human  calculations,  will  in  the 
end  be  good  for  nothing  but  wrapping  up  sausages. 

Herr  Helfferich's  most  brilliant  performance  is  the 
comparison  he  draws  in  every  speech  between  Prus- 
sia's wealth  and  abundance  and  England's  dearth 
and  poverty.  Not  to  mention  the  other  nations. 

Why,  Herr  Helfferich  wouldn't  do  them  the  honor 
of  even  comparing  them  with  Prussia. 

Poor  Brittania  is  the  one  country  to  enjoy  the 
privilege,  but  only  so  that  Prussia  may  shine  the  more 
brightly  by  contrast. 

Can  a  man  of  experience  doubt  the  true  purpose  of 


Bluff!  213 

this  ridiculous  braggadocio?  To  throw  sand  in 
Michel's  eyes.  Then  will  Michel  willingly  give  up 
his  last  penny.  And  if  Herr  Helfferich  needs  Michel 's 
shirt  for  the  fatherland,  then  will  Michel  take  the 
shirt  off  his  back,  too. 

Herr  Helfferich  is  supposed  also  to  work  upon  for- 
eign nations  and  extract  money  from  them,  too.  He'd 
be  glad  to  take  whatever  he  can  get.  Unfortunately, 
however,  he  gets  nothing. 

The  foreigners  are  not  so  stupid  as  to  stake  their 
money  on  the  losing  horse.  They  are  disrespectful 
enough  not  to  believe  in  Prussia's  fabulous  wealth. 
They  say  it  is  all  bluff,  Prussian  bluff. 

Bluff  Number  Three:  Prussian  Organization 

And  our  organization!  That  marvelous  Prussian 
organization,  unexcelled,  inimitable! 

That  organization  for  the  mutual  and  public  ad- 
miration of  the  glorious  qualities  and  achievements 
of  the  Prussian  bureaucrats!  That  organization  for 
proclaiming  the  overwhelming  superiority  of  the 
Prussian  organization. 

What  else  the  organization  may  have  accomplished 
is  still  hidden  from  the  exoteric. 

Even   the   organizer   of   organizers,   the    Prussian 


214  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

food  dictator,  has  not  produced  a  change.  To  him, 
too,  the  main  thing  all  along  has  simply  been  pub- 
licity for  the  incomparable  organization. 

He  puff s  and  swells  himself  enormously,  talking  ' 
commonplaces,  puffs  himself  even  more  than  the  other 
organizers,   and — lets   everything  be  just  as  it  has 
been. 

The  people  suffer  want  and  starve.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  the  Herr  Food  Dictator  is  not  suffering  want 
and  starving. 

He  ''the  strong  man,"  is  nothing  but  a  tight-rope 
dancer  balancing  himself  carefully  between  the  un- 
scrupulous greed  of  the  Prussian  agrarians  and  the 
wrath  of  the  starving  people. 

Isn't  potato  bread  rarer  than  cake  in  peace  times? 
Aren't  our  supplies  of  potatoes,  sugar,  eggs,  meat, 
all  necessities  in  short,  so  close  to  the  margin  that 
they  are  enough  to  keep  us  from  dying  but  not  enough 
to  keep  us  living  ?  Aren  't  we  down  to  the  very  lowest 
already  and  isn't  what  is  left  so  outrageously  high  in 
price  that  the  people  cannot  buy  the  things  most  es- 
sential to  life? 

The  middle  class  has  been  ruined,  reduced  to  the 
proletariat.  No  business  succeeds  unless  the  head  of 
it  is  a  thorough  cheat  and  has  secured  government 
contracts,  besides. 


Bluff!  215 

The  famous  organizers  shrug  their  shoulders.  '  *  The 
natural  consequences  of  war/'  they  say.  They  don't 
like  to  hear  of  misery  and  starvation.  It  doesn't  fit 
in  with  the  picture  they  draw  to  deceive  themselves 
and  others,  the  picture  of  the  wonderful  adaptation 
of  the  nation's  economic  life  to  the  war. 

Yes,  but  if  you  don't  want  to  hear  of  the  nameless 
woe  that  the  war  has  brought  upon  millions  of  your 
countrymen,  then  why,  you  spawn  of  the  devil,  why 
did  you  make  war?  Why,  if  all  you  can  attend  to  is 
killing  and  massacring  and  destroying  and  burning 
and  laying  waste  ? 

Massacring  and  destroying  and  burning  are  things, 
to  be  sure,  that  you  have  organized  well,  you  crimi- 
nals. But  it's  easier  to  do  that  than  to  build  up  or 
create  useful  values. 

Your  whole  "organization"  is  destruction.  The 
building  up  you  will  have  to  leave  to  others. 

Your  organization  is  bluff,  nothing  but  bluff.  Prus- 
sian fraud. 

Bluff  Number  Four:  the  Universities 

We  opened  a  university  in  Warsaw  and  one  in 
Ghent,  presumably  for  the  spread  of  Prussian  culture 
among  the  nations  of  Poland  and  Belgium. 


216  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

So  far  we  have  had  no  news  regarding  the  uni- 
versity in  Belgium,  except  that  a  Flemish  poet  coldly 
but  courteously  declined  Prussia's  proud  gift.  It 
seems  Ghent  has  no  professors  or  students,  but  we've 
just  tried  to  secure  some  by  way  of  Holland,  and  we 
shall  have  to  wait  to  see  with  what  success. 

Apparently  the  Belgians  have  already  acquired  the 
right  conception  of  Prussian  culture — even  without 
a  university — through  the  destruction  of  Louvain 
and  Antwerp  and  through  the  thousands  of  deporta- 
tions. They  desire  no  further  proofs  of  its  superior- 
ity. The  ungrateful  curs! 

The  Polish  university,  on  the  other  hand,  is  flour- 
ishing and  active,  except  that  there  are  no  Poles  con- 
nected with  it.  With  omission  of  the  Poles,  it  is  a 
thoroughly  international  university. 

German  and  Austrian  professors  here  instruct  the 
scions  of  that  ancient  race  whose  ancestors  passed 
across  the  Red  Sea  and  later  established  trading 
settlements  in  and  around  Jerusalem. 

There  are  rumors  afloat  among  the  initiated  that 
Servia  is  the  next  in  order.  This  beautiful  country 
is  to  be  blessed  with  a  great  art  academy  in  which  the 
Slavs  are  to  become  acquainted  with  the  genuine  kgl* 
Prussian  art.  The  proper  successors  of  Knackfuss 

*  Common  abbreviation  for  koniglieh,  ' '  royal. ' ' 


Bluff!  217 

and  Anton  von  Werner  are  already  on  their  way  to 
Belgrade. 

His  Majesty's  well-known  art  magazine,  Volker 
E-uropa's  ivahrt  cure  heiligsten  Outer*  has  been  given 
them  to  bring  along  in  order  to  show  the  Servians 
what  art  really  is.  The  requisite  drill  ground  for  art 
has  been  plotted  out,  and  we  shall  soon  be  drilling  the 
young  Servian  artists  with:  "Present  brushes! 
Right  dress!  Left  dress!" 

Nor  is  Montenegro  to  be  left  without  attention. 
The  Montenegrins  must  not  be  allowed  to  suffer  for 
their  king's  naughty  behavior. 

Cettinje  is  to  be  endowed  with  a  musical  conserva- 
tory, because  in  the  mountains  there,  the  sounds  echo 
and  reecho  so  prettily.  The  chief  subject  of  instruc- 
tion will  be  trumpeting. 

The  imperial  conqueror  of  Montenegro,  as  is 
known,  places  the  greatest  value  upon  trumpeting, 
because  it  is  the  loudest  music,  and  after  all  his  un- 
heard-of victories  on  all  the  battlefields  of  Europe, 
he  wants  none  but  trumpeters  to  accompany  him 
wherever  he  goes,  even  if  his  movements  are  to  be 
kept  secret. 

They  say  a  whole  regiment  of  trumpeters  is  to  be 

*  Nations  of  Europe,  Preserve  Your  Most  Sacred  Treasures. 


218  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

got  together,  and  so  there  will  be  a  great  demand  for 
men  with  good,  strong  lungs. 

Thus,  the  Prussian  authorities  look  out  in  fatherly 
fashion  for  all  the  people  that  have  had  the  good  luck 
to  be  invaded  by  them. 

Of  course,  always  in  the  field  of  "Kultur,"  be- 
cause that  is  what  they  are  most  familiar  with  and 
because  it  costs  them  nothing.  They  simply  compel 
the  respective  countries  to  maintain  and  pay  for 
these  Prussianizing  institutions. 

Another  great  advantage  of  the  universities  and 
acadamies  is  that  on  the  opening  days  bombastic 
speeches  can  be  made  on  the  superiority  of  German 
culture  over  all  the  other  so-called  cultures,  atten- 
tion thus  being  drawn  to  the  fact  that  we  are  not 
barbarians,  as  so  many  mean  people  want  the  world 
to  believe. 

In  view  of  such  great  cultural  deeds  it  matters  lit- 
tle that  the  people  in  the  subjugated  lands  who  have 
escaped  death  by  fire  or  sword  are  left  to  starve, 
while  the  little  they  have  managed  to  save  for  barely 
keeping  themselves  alive  is  taken  from  them  and  sent 
on  to  Prussia. 

The  world  hears  nothing  of  the  shrieks  of  agony 
of  these  dying  men,  women  and  children.  Prussia 
squeezes  the  throats  of  its  victims  too  tight  for  the 


Bluff!  219 

neutrals  to  catch  a  sound.  And  yet  sometimes  the 
death  rattle  of  a  starving  victim  reaches  the  ears  of 
the  outside  world.  But  when  it  does,  why,  it's  not 
true,  it's  the  malicious  invention  of  our  enemies. 

Oh,  bloody  mockery  of  culture  and  humanity,  these 
universities  and  academies  amid  subjugated  victims, 
amid  mortals  dying  of  hunger.  Did  any  one  in  the 
ravaged  countries  invite  the  bearers  of  culture  in? 
Why  do  they  insult  those  whom  they  have  trodden 
underfoot  with  their  hollow  gifts? 

Even  in  destroying  and  murdering  they  haven't 
the  courage  to  be  open  about  it  arid  at  least  stick  to 
nothing  but  the  job  that  brought  them  there. 

Bluff  Number  Five:  Peace 

All  the  chancellors  that  succeeded  each  other  to  of- 
fice during  the  war  have  wanted  to  conclude  peace. 
They  have  had  their  fill  of  bloodshed  and  refuse  to 
assume  responsibility  for  the  continued  slaughter  of 
the  nations. 

They  are  so  peace-loving,  so  ready  for  peace!  But 
our  enemies  are  not  satisfied.  They  have  not  seen 
enough  blood  spilled  yet. 

This  is  what  the  chancellors  keep  telling  us  over 
and  over  again.  They  are  such  dear,  good  souls. 
They  can't  bear  to  see  blood  shed. 


22O  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

The  enemies  should  just  look  at  the  map !  If  they 
look  at  the  map,  they  can  gather  the  exact  situation 
from  it  and  conclude  peace  accordingly. 

But  they  don't  want  to.  They  say  you  can't  tell 
from  the  German  war  map,  and  there  are  consider- 
ably larger  maps  in  this  world-war  which,  however, 
the  chancellors  apparently  do  not  possess.  They  say 
there's  a  map  of  the  world,  and  on  that  map  things 
look  very  different. 

What  insolence! 

So  then  our  enemies  want  to  keep  the  war  up? 
Well  and  good.  Nothing  could  be  better.  They  shall 
have  the  war  they  want.  But  every  day  the  war  goes 
on  increases  our  demands,  enlarges  the  territory  that 
we  shall  wrest  from  them  as  security  for  their  good 
behavior  in  the  future. 

Donnerwetter,  they  shall  have  their  war! 

But  now  they're  trembling,  we  hope.  They're 
shivering  and  shaking,  because  the  territory  to  be 
annexed  is  growing  bigger  every  day,  and  soon  will 
be  so  big  that  the  only  thing  left  them,  each  enemy  in 
his  own  country,  will  be  a  spot  with  a  tree  on  it  for 
them  to  hang  themselves  on. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  this  dismal  prospect,  they 
keep  on  fighting. 

Can  it  be  that  the  enemy  has  his  supicions  that  all 


Bluff!  221 

this  stuff  about  territory  is  bluff,  nothing  but  Prus- 
sian fraud?  Has  he  any  notion  of  the  fact  that  the 
more  arrogant  the  Prussian  claims,  the  nearer  is  the 
great  crash  in  Germany? 

Many  a  time  have  the  chancellors  declartd  them- 
selves ready  for — a  German  dictated  peace.  And  how 
did  the  enemy  respond  to  their  magnanimity?  By 
laughing  at  them,  simply  laughing  at  them.  They 
don't  believe  they've  been  beaten.  They  don't  be- 
lieve they  ever  will  be  beaten.  They're  just  begin- 
ning in  real  good  earnest. 

And  they  don 't  even  look  at  the  map  that  the  chan- 
cellors keep  sticking  under  their  noses.  They  say  it's 
bluff,  sheer  Prussian  bluff. 


XXXIV 

QUELLE  BETISE 

SHORTLY  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  some  few 
weeks  or  months  later,  the  German  newspapers  all 
carried  an  interview  that  a  German  reporter  had  had 
with  the  French  ambassador  in  Berlin  after  diplo- 
matic relations  had  been  broken  off  between  France 
and  Germany. 

Monsieur  Cambon,  having  granted  the  interview 
shortly  before  his  enforced  departure  from  the  Prus- 
sian capital,  was  naturally  very  brief,  and  confined 
himself  chiefly  to  the  expression  of  how  stupid  the 
war  was — quelle  betise. 

The  interview,  it  goes  without  saying,  was  not 
served  to  the  German  public  in  its  simple  form,  but 
dressed  with  the  customary  superabundance  of  spices 
and  sauces — I  beg  pardon,  gravy,  its  own  dish  gravy. 
Everybody  was  to  be  given  a  taste  of  how  sensibly 
the  German  government  had  acted.  What  was  a 
betise  to  the  French  ambassador  and  his  country  was 
necessarily  the  very  reverse  to  Germany. 

I  am  often  made  to  think  of  that  long-ago  incident 
222 


Quelle  Betise  223 

when  here  in  a  neutral  country  I  discuss  the  war  and 
its  causes  with  neutrals  and  over  and  over  again  hear 
some  one  say,  "What  stupidity!" 

What  did  Germany  want?  What  was  lacking  to 
make  her  completely  happy?  She  had  everything, 
the  largest,  best-equipped  and  best-managed  army  in 
the  world,  a  navy  which  in  its  brand-new  modernity 
excelled  all  other  navies  except  the  old  English  navy, 
and  this  it  was  not  so  very  far  from  approaching. 
German  science  and  technology  played  a  highly  impor- 
tant part  in  the  world;  German  industry  and  trade 
were  on  the  highroad  to  conquering  all  markets. 
Everywhere  German  capital  was  being  employed,  and 
the  German  technician  and  German  engineer  were 
omnipresent.  Then  what  did  Germany  want?  Why 
the  war?  Germany  was  on  the  point  of  conquering 
the  world  without  removing  her  sword  from  the 
scabbard. 

Why  the  war? 

In  a  foreign  country  one  gains  perspective  in  ob- 
serving things  about  one's  own  country.  One  gets  a 
keener  insight  into  the  larger  relations.  From  close 
by  one  sees  an  inextricable  confusion  of  details,  the 
nuts,  pins,  screws,  cogs,  wheels,  pistons  of  a  huge 
machine,  From  afar  the  thing  ceases  to  be  a  puz- 


224  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

zling  multiplicity  and  becomes  the  one,  great,  power- 
ful machine,  Germany. 

That  was  before  the  war.  But  now?  Yes,  you 
ask  in  grief,  "What  was  it  that  Germany  wanted?" 
A  comparison  between  to-day  and  the  yesterdays  be- 
fore the  war  brings  nothing  but  profound  pity.  What 
has  the  war  done  to  this  flourishing  nation? 

Was  it  not  a  monumental  piece  of  stupidity  to 
bring  this  gigantic  machine  to  a  standstill  with  one 
jerk?  Was  it  not  sheer  idiocy? 

Where  is  the  young  German  merchant  now,  the 
technician,  the  engineer?  Rotting  alive  in  the  slime 
of  the  trenches,  if  not  resting  forever  in  one  of  the 
wholesale  graves  of  the  countless  battlefields,  or  hob- 
bling about,  a  helpless  human  ruin. 

Do  the  Germans  think  that  the  offices,  shops  and 
factories  that  formerly  provided  jobs  will  open  again 
to  those  who  will  be  left  over  after  the  pitiless  slaugh- 
ter comes  to  an  end?  Do  they  think  that  after  the 
war  a  German  will  be  able  to  take  the  place  that  he 
held  in  a  foreign  country  and  that  he  gave  up  full  of 
enthusiasm  for  the  war? 

Profound  disillusionment  is  in  store  for  any  one 
who  cherishes  such  hopes.  The  Germans  .are  no 
longer  wanted.  Each  individual  among  them  is  held 
responsible  for  the  frightfulness  that  has  been  in- 


Quelle  Betise  225 

flicted  upon  humanity.  Doors  everywhere  will  be 
closed  to  them,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  others 
long  ago  took  their  places  who  will  not  let  themselves 
be  ousted  so  lightly. 

As  for  German  capital,  which  was  engaged  every- 
where on  the  globe  making  wealth  for  Germany,  it 
is  no  longer  on  hand  ready  for  competition.  It  has 
been  converted  into  war  loans. 

But  apart  from  economic  considerations,  hasn't  the 
war  been  utterly  stupid  from  the  militaristic  point  of 
view,  too?  That  magnificent,  enormous  army  was  in 
truth  the  "glittering  guard"  of  the  "supreme  war- 
lord," and  so  was  the  German  navy,  with  its  proud 
swift  coursers  of  the  sea.  They  both  made  a  fitting 
and  magnificent  background  for  the  pomp-and-glory 
loving  representative  of  a  great  nation.  But  not  only 
that.  The  mere  latent  threat  of  so  tremendous  an  in- 
strument for  destruction  sufficed  to  keep  every  na- 
tion from  serious  resistance  to  Germany's  will. 

Where  is  this  great  host  now?  What  has  become 
of  the  bugaboo  of  all  of  Germany's  "enemies"? 
What  does  our  army  look  like  after  these  many  months 
of  the  most  fearful  warring,  after  a  hopeless,  endless 
struggle  against  all  the  nations  of  the  world  and 
against  all  the  war-machines  of  the  world  ?  Not  much 
more  than  a  ruin.  Not  much  more  than  a  big  pile 


226  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

of  men,  more  or  less  shattered  in  health,  damaged  in 
mind  and  body.  All  of  them  hopeless,  dejected,  ut- 
terly robbed  of  their  pride,  because  in  the  bottom  of 
their  hearts  they  know  and  feel  that  they  have  noth- 
ing to  defend,  nothing  of  theirs  having  been  attacked. 
They  realize  it  was  criminal  stupidity,  and  that  alone, 
which  urged  them  into  the  war  and  keeps  urging 
and  urging  them. 

But  no!  Not  stupidity  any  longer.  Now  it  is  a 
cold-blooded,  diabolically  cold-blooded,  risk-all  game, 
when  the  nation  about  to  fall  to  the  ground  from 
exhaustion  is  whipped  up  on  to  its  feet  again  with 
the  despicable  lie  that  England,  the  ' '  enemy-in-chief, ' ' 
wants  to  crush  the  German  people  and  rob  them  of 
what  belongs  to  them — take  at  least  half  of  each 
German's  property  and  reduce  him  to  a  slave.  Some- 
thing of  the  sort  is  what  the  German  nation  is  asked 
to  believe,  and  it  seems  it  does  believe  it.  The  nation 
of  poets  and  thinkers  is  expected  to  believe  such 
stuff!  Yet  the  nation  of  poets  and  thinkers  comes 
up  to  expectations.  One  despairs  of  the  good  sense 
of  the  German  nation. 

Is  there  a  searchlight  strong  enough  to  reveal  to 
this  nation's  eyes  the  real  meaning  of  these  desperate 
assertions  ? 

They  are  an  avowal  by  the  German  government 


Quelle  Betise  227 

that  the  game  is  lost;  and  it  is  simply  putting  off 
the  day  when  the  people  must  come  to  the  same  real- 
ization, when  the  crash  will  be  apparent  to  all — like 
a  player  hoping  for  salvation  through  some  happy 
chance. 

Is  there  a  voice  eloquent  enough  to  convince  the 
German  people  that  their  future  is  not  in  danger; 
that  no  one  is  thinking  of  doing  them  any  harm; 
that  the  menace  was  only  against  those  who  made  a 
profession  of  keeping  mankind  in  one  state  of  alarm ; 
that  these  men  were  the  only  ones  whom  the  world 
wanted  to  render  harmless;  and  that  these  men  will 
be  rendered  harmless  even  if  the  German  people  in 
their  infatuation  shed  many  more  streams  of  blood 
for  their  sake. 

It  is  not  the  English  government  that  wants  to 
rob  the  German  people  of  what  rightfully  belongs  to 
them,  and  reduce  them  to  slavery.  It  is  the  German 
government.  The  German  government  is  already 
stealing  their  possessions  and  giving  them  useless  bits 
of  paper  in  return.  And  as  for  being  reduced  to 
slavery,  why  the  German  people  have  been  living  in 
slavery  a  long  time  already.  They  don't  have  to  be 
reduced. 

When  will  Michel  wake  up?  Isn't  even  the  cease- 
less thunder  of  cannon  on  all  sides  loud  enough  to 


228  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

rouse  him  and  make  him  take  off  his  nightcap  at  least 
and  rub  his  eyes  and  look -around? 

Or  does  the  German  nation  want  to  go  on  to  the 
end  competing  with  the  idiocy  of  its  government, 
which  began  the  slaughter  of  nations  without  the 
faintest  consciousness  either  of  its  responsibility  or 
the  consequences  of  the  war?  The  nation  itself,  not 
the  government,  had  to  pay  for  this  stupidity  with 
ever  more  and  more  sacrifices.  The  government  is 
not  denying  itself  anything,  or  starving  or  bleeding 
to  death.  The  government  is  simply  standing  behind 
the  people  with  the  whip  in  its  hand. 


XXXV 
CONCERNING  THE  PRUSSIAN  SPIRIT 

IT  still  makes  my  stomach  turn  when  I  think  of 
the  convention  of  <ltrue  Prussians"  that  took  place 
in  Berlin  in  1913. 

They  foregathered  from  all  corners  of  the  Empire 
east  of  the  Elbe  for  the  mutual  admiration  of  their 
divine  Prussianism,  and  also  to  rub  their  incompara- 
ble virtues  into  the  skin  of  an  astonished  Germany. 

It  was  at  this  convention,  too,  that  the  expression, 
" Prussian  spirit"  was  baptized.  Henceforth,  the 
Prussian  spirit  was  to  permeate  the  stupid  South- 
Germans  like  yeast  in  flour  and  was  to  raise  them  to 
the  glorious  heights  of  Prussianism. 

If  anybody  in  Bavaria  has  forgotten  this  world- 
stirring  convention,  he  will  probably  remember  it 
when  I  recall  that  one  of  the  main  events  connected 
with  it  was  a  speech  held  by  a  Prussian  general,  in 
which  he  sounded  the  praises  of  the  Prussians  and 
their  courage  in  the  Franco-Prussian  War  and  con- 
trasted it  with  the  cowardice  the  Baravians  showed, 

229 


230  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

among  other  places,  at  Orleans.  "When  the  Prus- 
sians coine,  we  too  get  courage." 

A  fact  that  was  confirmed  at  the  convention,  though 
scarcely  needing  confirmation,  having  already  been 
sufficiently  well  recognized,  was  that  the  most  promi- 
nent trait  of  the  Prussian  spirit  is  braggadocio.  In 
this  "great  time"  of  the  war  nothing  has  turned  out 
to  be  truer. 

One  gets  more  and  more  nauseated  as  one  follows 
the  publicity  given  the  most  stupendous  revelation  of 
the  Prussian  spirit,  the  Prussian  organization,  that 
unexcelled  organization,  the  food  administration. 

At  the  outset,  when  supplies  left  over  from  peace 
times  were  still  abundant,  it  functioned  excellently 
well.  But  when  one  article  after  another  gave  out 
and  the  larger  part  of  the  population  had  to  begin  to 
draw  in  its  belt,  they  grew  a  bit  less  vociferous,  and 
sometimes  a  discord  sounded  in  the  complacent  cack- 
ling. 

The  Prussian  spirit,  so  loud-mouthed  and  obtrusive, 
is  scarcely  more  than  a  caricature  of  good  human 
qualities.  Aristocracy  of  feeling,  unassuming  virtue 
are  utterly  foreign  to  it.  It  recognizes  no  law,  no 
rights  where  its  own  advantage  is  concerned.  It  con- 
siders that  its  brutal  "necessity  knows  no  law"  ema- 
nates from  the  loftiest  morality,  and  "necessity,"  in 


Concerning  the  Prussian  Spirit      231 

its  opinion,  arises  merely  if  some  one  resists  its  lust 
for  subjugation  and  does  not  allow  himself  to  be 
beaten  down  without  hitting  back. 

The  Prussian  spirit,  therefore,  need  regard  no  law 
based  upon  justice  and  humanity.  Enough  if  one 
dares  not  to  want  what  it  wants. 

Indeed,  what  could  justice  and  humanity  mean  to 
this  spirit  of  the  petty  tyrant? 

Brute  force,  that's  all  it  has  understanding  for, 
brute  force.  Humanity?  An  incomprehensible  con- 
cept. Every  good,  noble  sentiment  that  a  kind  Cre- 
ator has  implanted  in  the  human  breast,  everything 
that  strives  for  development  in  the  genial  rays  of 
humane  feeling  and  humane  thinking  congeals  into 
ice  under  the  black,  barbarous  Prussian  spirit. 

It  is  actually  impossible  to  give  strangers,  or  even 
our  own  fellow-countrymen,  a  convincing  description 
of  the  peculiar  frosty  superciliousness  of  the  Prus- 
sians, with  their  division  into  strictly  defined  castes. 

The  upper  classes  display  a  sense  of  superiority  to- 
ward those  they  deem  below  them  that  makes  a  non- 
Prussian  absolutely  mad — and  makes  him  laugh,  too, 
it's  so  absurd. 

The  trait  comes  out  markedly  in  the  Reichstag. 
There  you  may  observe  the  " noblest  of  the  nation," 
the  Prussian  Junkers,  converse  with  the  bourgeois 


232  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

delegates,  and  especially  with  the  Socialist  delegates, 
in  a  tone  implying  that  these  have  no  right  to  claim 
membership  in  the  human  race. 

One  really  cannot  even  attempt  to  describe  the 
genuine  Prussian  spirit.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  is 
unsympathetic  to  the  last  degree.  One  of  its  main 
traits,  haughtiness,  is  all  the  more  incomprehensible 
as  you  search  in  vain  for  the  least  justification  for  it. 
And  yet  they're  so  puffed  up  and  uppish,  these 
wretched  little  Junker  country-squires. 

The  Junkers  treat  the  middle  class  with  annoying 
condescension,  and  the  middle  class  in  its  turn  treats 
the  working  class  with  annoying  condescension.  And 
so  does  the  higher  official  treat  the  lower  official.  Each 
wants  the  other  to  feel  his  power. 

The  natural  way  the  "inferiors"  accept  this  treat- 
ment from  the  ''superiors"  is  amazing.  "Bend  to 
those  above  you,  oppress  those  below  you"  is  the 
stamp  and  seal  on  intercourse  among  the  various 
Prussian  castes. 

The  Junkers'  manners  show  lack  of  a  genuine  cul- 
ture, of  an  old  culture,  of  a  good  breeding  that  does 
not  fear  it  will  detract  from  itself  by  treating  the  low- 
liest as  f ellowmen  in  a  courteous  friendly  way.  There 
is  a  grotesque  uncertainty  in  their  way  of  dealing  with 
persons  in  humbler  walks  of  life.  They  waver  be- 


Concerning  the  Prussian  Spirit      233 

tween  an  insulting,  arrogant  inaccessibility  and  a 
scornful  condescension. 

The  classic  period  of  the  Prussian  spirit,  when  it 
reached  its  highest  development,  extends  from  1870 
to  1914. 

The  world  has  become  familiar  with  it,  as  familiar 
as  it  ever  wants  to  be. 

Its  blood-and-iron  menace  has  burdened  humanity 
ail-too  long.  Therefore,  it  is  drawing  near  to  its  end. 
Therefore,  the  world  must  at  last  be  relieved  of  its 
oppression,  growing  more  burdensome  daily. 

This  condition,  by  which  a  nation  politically  more 
backward  than  China  terrorizes  the  whole  world 
through  the  constant  holding  up  of  a  threat,  must  not 
be  allowed  to  last  any  longer.  The  Prussian  people 
themselves,  apparently,  have  neither  the  will  nor  the 
strength  to  overthrow  a  despotic  dynasty,  which  is 
the  refuge  of  everything  reactionary  in  the  world. 
They  have  neither  the  will  nor  the  strength  to  chase 
the  rulers  out  of  the  land  and  make  themselves  into  a 
free  nation. 

So  outsiders  have  to  come  and  prevent  the  Prussian 
government  from  molding  the  destinies  of  Europe  as 
it  has  done  from  1870  to  1914. 

All  inventions  and  discoveries  are  commandeered 
by  the  Prussian  spirit  in  the  service  of  death  and  de- 


234  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

struction.  Everything  must  be  subordinated  to  mili- 
taristic purposes.  And  the  Prussian  spirit  is  proud 
of  this. 

It  finds  nothing  to  do  for  the  elevation  and  libera- 
tion of  humanity. 

What  a  wonderful,  delightful  spectacle  was  the 
first  Zeppelin  that  breasted  the  winds  with  thun- 
derous motors.  The  slim  fish  diving  in  the  air  was  a 
beautiful  sight.  But  what  did  the  base  Prussian 
spirit  do  with  this  triumphant  achievement  of  man, 
this  glorious  fulfillment  of  a  dream  which  humanity 
has  dreamed  ever  since  its  infancy?  It  degraded  it 
to  ravaging  and  destroying  and  annihilating.  The 
lovely  fulfillment  of  a  dream  was  turned  into  a  fright- 
ful Gorgon's  head,  the  sight  of  which  freezes  the 
blood  in  one's  veins. 

Knowing  nothing  but  frightfulness  and  ugly 
threats,  the  Prussian  spirit  will  no  longer  be  tolerated 
on  earth.  It  must  disappear.  Mankind  must  dispel 
the  nightmare  of  its  persecution  mania.  And  it  is 
inconceivable  that  when  Peace  draws  near  she  will 
not  come  carrying  in  her  hand  the  awakening  from 
this  criminal  insanity. 


XXXVI 

ENGLAND'S  STARVING-OUT  OF  GERMANY 

IP  you  want  to  guard  a  piece  of  property  of  yours 
very  carefully,  you  buy  yourself  a  dog  and  send  him 
to  a  trainer  to  be  taught  to  fly  at  the  throats  of  tres- 
passers. A  harmless,  good-natured  beast,  by  certain 
manipulations,  is  so  steadily  irritated  and  enraged 
that  he  finally  acquires  the  desired  traits  and  is  ready 
to  sink  his  fangs  into  the  flesh  of  any  one  approaching 
his  master's  property. 

I  always  think  of  this  whenever  the  chancellor,  or 
the  minister  of  war,  or  any  one  of  the  representatives 
of  the  '  *  imperial  lord ' '  thunders  in  immense  indigna- 
tion against  England's  outrageous  scheme  for  "starv- 
ing women  and  children."  The  imperial  lord's 
mouthpieces  cannot  finds  words  strong  enough  to 
stigmatize  the  atrocious  proceeding. 

The  thing  to  be  remarked  is  not  their  indignation, 
but  the  fact  that  England's  sinister  scheme  is  regu- 
larly trotted  out  each  time  there  is  a  discussion,  not 
of  the  food  problem,  but  of  something  else  for  which 
the  people  are  to  be  heated  up.  The  dreadful  suf- 

235 


236  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

ferings  that  the  English  plan  will  inflict  upon  "Ger- 
man women  and  children"  cannot  be  painted  black 
enough  then. 

In  the  speeches  of  the  high  officials  there  actually 
sounds  the  "Sic  'em,  Hector,  sic  'em!"  with  which 
the  faithful  guardians  of  the  "imperial  lord's"  pos- 
sessions are  incited  to  jump  at  the  enemy's  throat. 
And  the  people  are  made  to  believe  that  it  is  their 
own  property  they  are  defending,  whereas  they  pos- 
sess as  little  of  it,  mostly,  as  does  the  dumb  four- 
footed  guardian. 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Eeichstag  is  con- 
sidering food  problems,  we  learn  to  our  astonishment 
that  this  same  English  plan  is  utterly  impractical  and 
altogether  ineffective;  an  absurd  idea  of  those  Eng- 
lish people,  and  nobody  in  Germany  need  ever  suffer 
want  because  of  it.  We  are  well  provided  with  suffi- 
cient necessities  no  matter  how  long  the  war  lasts — 
on  account  of  our  incomparable  organization,  of 
course.  The  purposes  of  the  English  have  come  to 
naught.  In  fact,  there  never  were  any  prospects  of 
their  seriously  incommoding  us. 

Which  of  the  two  claims  is  right?  Either  the  Eng- 
lish plan  has  the  serious  consequences  that  are  charged 
against  it,  or  it  has  no  consequences  at  all.  There's 
something  suspicious  about  this  tremendous  indigna- 


England's  Starving-Out  of  Germany    237 

tion  over  a  plan  that  is  said  to  be  utterly  ineffective. 
You  begin  to  think  that  England  never  harbored  any 
such  purposes,  and  that  the  whole  thing  is  nothing 
but  a  Prussian  fabrication,  invented  for  the  stultifi- 
cation of  the  people,  and  meant  to  enrage  them  and 
spur  them  on  when  there  is  danger  of  their  dropping 
from  exhaustion,  or  when  there  is  any  other  reason 
for  getting  their  fury  up  against  the  enemy.  "Sic 
'em,  Hector,  sic  'em!" 

Perhaps  the  main  idea  is  to  distract  attention  from 
the  real  culprits,  from  those  who  are  actually  to 
blame  for  the  people's  starving. 

There's  nothing  too  fraudulent,  too  low  for  the 
Prussian  government  to  use  in  spurring  on  the  dead- 
tired  nation.  The  government  knows  full  well  whose 
property  is  really  at  stake.  The  "imperial  lord's" 
property,  his  throne,  his  great  dynasty,  his  very  per- 
son. These  are  the  things  for  which  the  dice  are  being 
cast,  and  which  are  to  be  guarded  by  more  walls  of 
corpses,  more  streams  of  innocent  blood.  Therefore, 
"Sic  'em,  Hector,  sic  'em!" 

If  the  English  plan  were  a  bona  fide  one,  would  it 
really  be  as  outrageous  as  they  keep  saying  it  is? 
The  English,  it  seems,  are  carrying  on  war  the  way 
war  is  carried  on,  using  every  possible  method  of  war- 
fare, and  they  do  not  appear  to  be  harboring  par- 


238  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

ticularly  black  schemes  against  "  German  women  and 
children. " 

That  they  should  cut  supplies  off  from  us  in  case 
of  war  is  so  self -understood  that  the  idea  would  have 
occurred  even  to  our  wonderful  organizers  had  they 
had  a  mind  for  anything  but  murder  and  destruction. 
Apparently  they  quite  forget  that  a  nation  of  65,000,- 
000  would  like  to  eat  even  in  wartime. 

The  whimpering  propaganda  that  they  are  carry- 
ing on  against  England,  based  on  her  starving-out 
scheme,  shows,  among  other  things,  how  badly  they 
miscalculated. 

Are  we  supposed  to  deduce  from  the  anathemas 
hurled  against  our  perfidious  English  cousins  by  the 
Prussian  minister  of  war,  Wild  von  Hohenborn,  that 
the  German  ministry  of  war  would  not  have  starved 
out  the  English  had  it  had  the  chance  to  ?  Are  we  to 
believe  that  our  government  would  not  do  what  the 
English  government  is  supposed  to  have  done,  but 
would  magnanimously  have  taken  the  best  care  of 
English  women  and  children?  Apparently  this  is 
what  we  are  expected  to  think.  One  would  have  to 
be  exceedingly  credulous. 

This  government  whose  highest  rule  of  conduct  is, 
"Necessity  knows  no  law";  which  gave  the  order 
for  the  torpedoing  of  the  Lusitania,  an  order,  that  is, 


England's  Starving-Out  of  Germany     239 

for  the  drowning  of  1,400  peaceable,  defenseless  hu- 
man beings,  including  "women  and  children";  which 
afterward,  in  the  same  inhuman  way,  had  hundreds 
more  drowned  like  blind  puppies — do  you  think  a 
government  capable  of  such  acts  would  shrink  out  of 
delicacy  of  feeling  from  endangering  the  lives  of 
English  women  and  children?  I  think  not. 

On  the  contrary,  I  am  convinced  it  would  quite 
calmly  declare  that  ' '  war  is  war ' '  and  that  the  worse 
the  suffering  of  English  women  and  children,  the 
sooner  the  English  government  would  have  to  con- 
clude peace. 

So,  at  least,  says  every  Prussian  book  on  military 
'  *  science, ' '  and  the  men  at  the  head  of  this  war  never 
swerve  from  the  precepts  of  their  authorities,  trying 
even  to  outdo  their  inhumanity.  It  is  not  likely  that 
they  would  depart  from  their  usual  procedure  in  this 
one  instance. 

The  great  storm  of  indignation  against  the  English 
resolves  itself  into  one  thing,  the  clear  realization  that 
it  is  nothing  but  vile  Prussian  hypocrisy  intended  to 
spur  on  the  poor  worn-out  German  nation  to  renewed 
defense  of  its  imperial  lord's  property.  "Sic  'em, 
Hector,  sic  'em!" 


XXXVII 
RACE  HATRED 

WE  were  talking  about  international  relations  at 
our  table  in  the  cafe,  international  relations  before 
the  war ;  and  every  one  agreed  with  me  that  fomenting 
race  hatred,  was  abominable. 

This  surprised  me.  Since  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
I  have  not  been  pampered  by  people's  agreeing  with 
me  overly  much. 

Some  one  in  our  company  who  had  once  spent  his 
vacation  in  France  was  ready  with  stories  of  what 
great  efforts  were  being  made  there  to  stimulate  race 
hatred.  The  very  children  in  the  schools,  he  said, 
were  influenced  by  the  chauvinistic  readers  they  are 
given  to  study. 

Had  he  ever  seen  one  of  these  chauvinistic  readers, 
I  asked.  Seen  one?  No,  but  everybody  had  told  him 
about  them.  Everybody  ?  Where  ?  In  France  ?  No, 
not  in  France,  but  in  Germany.  Oh!  who  was  it  in 
Germany  that  said  so?  Nobody  knew.  I  proceeded 
to  enlighten  the  company  as  to  the  author  of  the 
fairy  tale.  I  told  them  a  Pan-German  newspaper  had 

240 


Race  Hatred  241 

fabricated  the  thing  out  of  whole  cloth  with  the  sole 
purpose  of  furnishing  a  pretext  to  the  German  author- 
ities for  doing  the  very  thing  France  was  charged 
with  doing.  The  reading  matter  given  the  children 
in  the  elementary  schools  was  to  be  made  to  serve  the 
"national  idea"  even  more  strictly  than  formerly. 
And  serving  the  national  idea,  I  said,  was  tantamount 
to  fomenting  race  hatred. 

General  protest.  No  such  thing  here  in  Germany. 
Not  the  least  trace  of  any  such  intentions  on  the  part 
of  our  country.  Out  of  keeping  with  the  German 
character.  The  other  nations  do  that  sort  of  thing, 
not  we. 

You  think  so?  Well,  I'll  read  you  something  that 
appeared  in  the  newspaper  yesterday — the  latest  de- 
cree of  the  Prussian  ministry  of  public  instruction. 


"Of  late  requests  have  come  pouring  in  that  for  educa- 
tional reasons  instruction  should  be  given  such  as  will  be 
calculated  to  counteract  the  spread  and  the  intensification 
of  race  hatred  and  to  prepare  the  young  mind  for  the  future 
reconciliation  of  the  civilized  nations.  This  arises  from  a 
feeling  for  international  brotherhood  and  from  enthusiastic, 
visionary  dreams  of  peace.  It  must  have  no  place  in  our 
schools.  It  is  not  the  attitude  that  the  public  school  should 
take  to  future  international  relations. 

"On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  primary  duty  of  the  public 
school  to  keep  the  fearful  lessons  of  this  war  alive  in  the 
rising  generation.  The  conviction  must  take  root  in  the 
young  mind  that  peace  will  be  guaranteed  only  by  the 
strongest  land  and  sea  forces  and  that  no  endeavors  for 


242  .What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

international  brotherhood  may  ever  interfere  in  the  slightest 
degree  with  Germany's  armaments. 

"All  the  parties  ( !)  must  yield  to  this  order. 

"It  will  continue  to  be  the  teacher's  delightful  task  to 
emphasize  the  feeling  confirmed  by  this  war,  that  a  strong 
royal  house  is  a  blessing,  and  to  strengthen  the  love  for  our 
king  and  kaiser  as  well  for  the  whole  Hohenzollern  family. 

"The  daily  prayer  for  our  ruler,  which  has  just  been  in- 
stituted, shall  continue  to  be  said  in  the  schools  even  after 
the  war. 

"The  teachers  must  also  firmly  oppose  all  efforts  to  ex- 
cuse the  atrocities  committed  by  our  enemies  all  over  the 
globe." 

Lovely!     Eh?     The  true  Prussian  spirit. 

All  of  my  companions  had  read  this  remarkable 
decree,  though  hastily,  to  be  sure.  None  of  them  had 
thought  much  about  it  one  way  or  another,  and  cer- 
tainly not  that  it  implied  the  fomenting  of  race  hatred. 

What  better  proof  than  this  could  be  wanted  of 
how  tightly  the  notion  has  been  wedged  in  the  Ger- 
man skull  that  it  is  the  other  nations,  the  other  na- 
tions only,  who  are  the  chauvinists  and  the  instiga- 
tors of  race  hatred  ? 

All  of  our  school  children,  especially  in  the  upper 
classes,  are  positively  fed  on  national  self-praise. 
What  sense  is  there  in  this  eternal  creeping-on-the- 
belly  to  our  own  national  greatness  and  infallibility? 
What  idiotic  presumption  in  the  verse  so  often  sung, 

"Am  deutchen  Wesen 
Soil  die  Welt  Genesen." ' 

*  The  German  spirit  is  to  heal  the  world. 


Race  Hatred  243 

Has  all  sense  of  good  taste  actually  departed  from 
our  people?  Is  their  feeling  for  art  satisfied  by  the 
tune  that  our  national  hand-organ  keeps  grinding 
out,  about  our  own  superiority  and  everybody  else's 
wickedness  ? 

Let  us  leave  it  to  the  other  nations  to  estimate  the 
good  and  the  bad  qualities  of  the  German  people. 
Outsiders  are  not  so  blind  to  the  positive  sides  of 
German  culture.  Their  love  of  German  music  testi- 
fies to  this. 

But  the  constant  pushing  forward  of  themselves 
that  the  Germans  do,  that  spreading  of  themselves, 
that  shoving  ahead  of  others  always  and  everywhere, 
annoys  and  insults  the  other  nations,  and  produces  a 
feeling  of  race  hatred.  Their  silly  behavior  posi- 
tively forces  outsiders  into  a  hostile  frame  of  mind. 

The  achievements  of  the  * ( fatherland  "  newspapers 
in  fomenting  race  hatred  exceed  all  measure.  Here 
idiocy  and  hysteria  triumph. 

The  newspaper  agitation  is  so  senseless,  so  criminal 
that  it  cannot  be  characterized  in  any  other  way  than 
as  a  foul  blot  upon  the  German  name.  A  man  of  refined 
feelings  can  do  nothing  but  hide  his  head  in  shame. 

The  amount  of  cultural  values  destroyed  by  race 
hatred  are  scarcely  to  be  estimated.  We  heard  Ger- 
man scholars  of  note  scold  and  shriek  abusive  words 


244  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

like  common  market-wives,  waxing  highly  indignant, 
however,  if  the  other  side  answered  back. 

Erudition  actually  seems  to  have  little  in  common 
with  refinement  of  feelings.  To  give  one  significant 
example : 

Dr.  W.  Fuchs,  a  medical  professor  in  Emmendin- 
gen,  wrote  an  essay  against  the  friends  of  peace,  which 
appeared  in  the  Munchner  Medizinische  Wochensch- 
rift,  and  concluded  with : 

"No  one,  therefore,  can  escape  the  logical  conclusion  that 
peace  would  be  a  catastrophe  and  that  war  is  the  one  pos- 
sibility. War,  formerly  a  stimulant,  a  matter  of  honor,  a 
means  to  an  end,  has  become  an  end  in  itself.  The  whole 
nation  will  as  one  man  demand  eternal  war!" 

The  same  high-souled  creature  wrote  the  following 
in  a  war  pamphlet: 

"Education  to  hate!  Education  to  the  veneration  of 
hate!  Education  to  the  love  of  hate!  Organization  of 
hate!  Away  with  crude  timidity,  with  false  shame  of  bru- 
tality and  fanaticism.  The  saying  of  Marinetti  has  a  po- 
litical application,  'More  boxes  on  the  ear,  fewer  kisses/ 

"We  must  not  hesitate  to  utter  the  blasphemy  that  'We 
have  been  given'  faith,  hope,  and  hate.  But  hate  is  the 
greatest  of  them  all !' " 

Dr.  W.  Fuchs  is  a  German  scholar,  a  professor  of 
medicine.  Yet,  I  am  convinced,  the  ordinary  Ger- 
man will  continue  to  insist  that  there  is  no  fomenting 
of  race  hatred  in  Germany.  It's  only  our  enemies  who 
do  that  sort  of  thing. 


XXXVIII 
OF  THE  BIRD  THAT  FOULS  ITS  OWN  NEST 

AN  anonymous  German  has  written  a  book  called 
J' accuse,  to  prove,  it  seems,  that  the  diplomacy  of 
William  II  is  to  blame  for  the  war. 

I  say  "seems"  because  I  myself  have  not  read  the 
book  nor  even  seen  it.  How  could  I  have  seen  it 
when  there  is  such  thorough  censorship  here  in  Ger- 
many? I  learned  all  I  know  of  its  contents  from  an 
acquaintance  of  mine  to  whom  the  book  had  been  sent 
for  a  short  while.  Afterwards  his  house  was  sub- 
jected to  a  search.  Apparently,  certain  things  he 
had  said  had  aroused  suspicion. 

The  anonymous  author  adduces  such  varied  and 
irrefutable  proofs  in  support  of  his  view  (that  he 
does  so  is  indirectly  confirmed  by  the  worry  and  the 
scolding  of  the  "fatherland"  press),  that  certain 
procedures,  which  had  purposely  been  kept  in  the 
dark,  were  made  clear  to  every  unprejudiced  person. 

My  second-hand  impression  of  the  book  is  that 
the  author  was  sincere  in  his  efforts  to  get  at  the 

245 


246  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

truth,  and  all  his  assertions  spring  from  honest  con- 
victions. 

Obviously,  he  had  at  his  disposal  many  diplomatic 
documents  which  are  inaccessible  to  all  but  the  very 
few,  and  this  lends  unusually  convincing  force  to  his 
arguments.  His  investigations  result  in  a  sum  total, 
which  is  a  clear  refutation,  a  reductio  ad  dbswrdum, 
of  the  statements  made  by  the  Berlin  government  re- 
garding the  outbreak  of  the  war  and  the  events  lead- 
ing up  to  it.  Since  the  Berlin  government  is  most 
anxious  to  have  the  German  people  believe  its  state- 
ments, it  naturally  fears  the  book  and  is  at  pains 
to  keep  the  wicked  wolf  from  its  little  lambs.  The 
Berlin  government  has  been  successful.  It  has  used 
its  police  power  to  good  effect.  Scarcely  a  single 
copy  of  the  book  is  to  be  found  in  the  whole  of 
Germany. 

It  is  this  very  furious  persecution  of  the  book  that 
seems  to  me  to  prove  its  absolute  truthfulness.  There 
is  probably  no  refuting  it. 

The  German  public  got  its  knowledge  of  the  con- 
tents of  J' accuse  from  a  few  quotations,  undoubtedly 
distorted  and  torn  from  their  context,  which  the  gov- 
ernment published  in  the  "fatherland"  press,  with 
the  idea  of  prejudicing  the  people  against  the  book 


Of  the  Bird  That  Fouls  Its  Own  Nest     247 

and  making  it  appear  that  the  government  had  noth- 
ing to  fear  from  their  reading  of  it. 

The  comments  of  the  "fatherland"  press  accom- 
panying the  quotations  contained  the  most  vulgar 
attacks  upon  the  author,  couched  in  language  that  in 
no  circumstances  can  ever  cross  the  lips  of  a  re- 
fined well-bred  person.  It  is  not  worth  the  while  to 
repeat  the  abuses  heaped  upon  the  author.  I  shall 
cite  only  the  weakest  of  the  verbal  assaults,  since  they 
throw  so  strong  a  light  upon  the  disposition  of  the 
now  leading  spirits  in  Germany. 

The  author  of  J' accuse  is  charged  with  "fouling 
his  own  nest."  Why?  So  far  as  I  can  tell  he  says 
nothing  unfavorable  about  Germany  or  the  German 
people ;  and  these,  I  take  it,  are  his  nest,  nothing  else. 
What  he  says  is  that  the  Prussian  government  in 
power  in  Germany  brought  on  the  war.  His  accusa- 
tion is  directed  solely  against  the  clique  at  present 
holding  the  reigns  of  government,  and  not  against  a 
single  other  German.  Consequently,  the  reproach  that 
he  fouls  his  own  nest  is  based  on  a  false  premise 
and  carries  no  weight. 

Besides,  the  courageous  author  of  J' accuse  is  not 
the  only  one  to  hold  his  opinion.  There  are  thousands 
in  Germany  who  think  as  he  does,  and  if  the  police 
club  wielded  by  the  government  during  our  state  of 


248  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

X 

siege  did  not  come  down  hard  on  every  open  expres- 
sion of  opinion,  the  government  might  learn  a  thing 
or  two  that  would  make  it  rub  its  eyes  in  astonish- 
ment. 

The  man's  a  democrat,  a  genuine  democrat,  not 
the  kaiser  kind  of  democrat,  of  whom  thousands  are 
running  around  now.  He  has  not  forgotten  what  he 
knew,  like  so  many  other  democrats.  The  Prussian 
system,  with  its  Caesarism  and  militarism,  is  just  as 
much  an  object  of  abhorrence  to  him  as  before  the 
war,  perhaps  more  so.  He  is  probably  one  of  those 
few  genuine  democrats  and  true  German  patriots  still 
left  who  even  before  the  war  greatly  feared  that  the 
mad  speeding  up  of  armaments  would  eventually 
plunge  the  country  into  disaster.  And  now  that  the 
horrible  catastrophe  he  foresaw  has  occurred  and 
the  world  is  all  in  flames,  is  he  now  to  be  denied  the 
right  to  look  for  the  incendiary  and,  as  soon  as  he 
has  found  him,  to  point  him  out? 

If  in  view  of  Germany 's  declarations  of  war  against 
Russia  and  France  and  in  view  of  the  invasion  of 
Belgium,  he  cannot  get  into  his  head  the  lie  about 
his  fatherland 's  having  been  attacked,  does  he  foul  his 
own  nest? 

The  suspicions  and  aspersions  cast  upon  the  author 
of  J' accuse  prove  that  the  greatest  crime  a  man  in 


Of  the  Bird  That  Fouls  Its  Own  Nest    249 

Germany  can  commit  to-day  is  not  stealing  or  mur- 
dering. That  the  people  have  been  doing  all  along 
at  William  II 's  behest.  The  greatest  crime  is  to  tell 
the  truth,  to  have  an  opinion  of  your  own. 

What  a  sorry  thing  is  this  German  nation,  which 
may  not  possess  an  opinion  of  its  own,  but  must  take 
its  opinions  from  Prussian  highwaymen,  must  allow 
opinions  to  be  forced  upon  it  by  all  the  methods  that 
a  terrorizing  government  is  ready  to  employ.  We 
Germans  are  stifling  here  under  oppression,  under 
the  meanest,  lowest,  commonest  blackguardism. 


XXXIX 
THE  CRASH 

THE  war  was  lost  to  us  long  ago.  It  was  lost  a 
month  after  it  began,  at  the  battle  of  the  Marne. 

In  a  certain  sense  those  people  were  right  who  said 
the  war  would  be  decided  in  a  few  weeks. 

It  was  decided.  And  if  our  government  had  not 
been  so  utterly  devoid  of  reason — which  it  still  is — 
it  would  instantly  have  instituted  workable  peace 
negotiations. 

When  it  became  clear  that  the  original  plan  could 
not  be  carried  through,  that  is,  a  complete  invasion 
of  France  and  the  occupation  of  Paris  by  rapid  as- 
sault, before  having  to  turn  to  Russia,  the  war  was 
already  decided,  and  the  thing  to  have  done  was  to 
throw  the  cards  on  the  table  and  admit  having  mis- 
calculated. 

But  Prussian  militarism  in  its  arrogance  would 
consider  nothing  of  the  sort.  It  immediately  had  a 
pretext  to  resort  to.  "We  were  occupying  enemy 
territory." 

But  the  war  of  attack  and  subjugation  had  turned 
250 


The  Crash  251 

into  a  war  of  defense — quite  involuntarily  on  the 
part  of  the  leaders.  And  it  could  be  kept  up  only 
because  of  the  trench  system  of  warfare,  for  which 
considerably  less  strength  is  required  than  for  open 
combat.  On  account  of  this,  men  could  be  withdrawn 
from  the  western  front,  and  Germany  was  enabled  to 
drive  the  Russians  back  almost  into  their  own  country. 
But  since  the  Russians  were  finally  able  to  entrench 
themselves  in  places  that  had  been  properly  pre- 
pared, the  war  settled  down  on  all  fronts  into  a 
sedentary  condition  that  has  never  before  character- 
ized a  war — mole  warfare,  we  Germans  call  it. 

A  change  in  the  mole  warfare  in  our  favor  is  out 
of  the  question.  There  are  many  persons  already, 
even  in  Germany,  who  know  there's  no  use  counting 
on  a  decisive  victory  for  us. 

So  if  a  favorable  outcome  for  Germany  from  force 
of  arms  is  not  to  be  hoped  for  and  if  all  matters 
are  to  be  decided  by  negotiation,  then  the  war  was 
undertaken  in  vain  and  the  prodigious  sacrifices  have 
all  been  of  no  avail.  And  militarism,  which  made 
the  war,  has  no  justification  for  being.  The  campaign 
ending  with  the  defeat  on  the  Marne  means  the  re- 
tirement, the  complete  downfall  of  militarism;  and 
militarism  may  not  be  credited  with  the  least  triumph, 
the  least  self-justification. 


252  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

This  war  will  pronounce  the  sharpest  possible  ver- 
dict upon  militarism.  If  the  German  people  are  at 
all  rational,  militarism  will  cease  to  be. 

But  unfortunately  the  crash  that  is  bound  to  come 
will  not  involve  militarism  alone.  Militarism  will 
carry  other  things  down  along  with  it,  because  in  the 
course  of  time  and  especially  in  the  course  of  this 
war,  it  has  become  so  intimately  bound  up  with  the 
economic  life  of  Germany. 

"What  jubilation  in  the  "fatherland"  press  each 
time  a  new  war  loan  is  agreed  to  by  the  Reichstag 
and  the  blessings  of  millions  come  showering  down 
again. 

Billions  and  billions  of  marks  have  already  been 
used  up  for  the  war,  and  all  the  ' '  patriotic ' '  elements 
are  enraptured  by  each  financial ' '  victory ' ' — a  victory 
beyond  their  expectations,  they  always  say,  while, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  initiated  are  not  so  surprised 
by  the  success. 

The  large  industries,  into  whose  laps  the  war  is 
tossing  vast  profits,  have  to  see  to  it  that  the  means 
are  on  hand  by  which  the  war  may  be  kept  up  and  so 
bring  them  fresh  millions.  A  large  part  of  the  cash 
realized  through  the  loans  goes  to  them  in  the  form 
of  pay  for  supplies  sold  to  the  government.  As 
for  the  agrarians,  the  Prussian  Junkers,  they  are 


The  Crash  253 

doubly  interested  that  enough  means  be  secured  for 
the  continuance  of  the  war.  On  the  one  hand,  they 
make  outrageously  huge  profits  on  foodstuffs  sold  to 
the  government;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  officers, 
who  come  chiefly  from  among  their  number,  pocket 
what  the  industrial  and  agrarian  profiteers  leave  over. 

But  the  working  people,  they  are  the  ones  who 
will  ultimately  have  to  pay  the  bill  rolled  up  by  the 
great  lords  in  the  war. 

If  it  should  ever  come  to  the  pass  that  the  interest 
on  the  loans  cannot  be  paid,  or  is  considerably  re- 
duced, and  government  bonds  will  be  good  for  noth- 
ing but  wrapping  paper,  the  industrials  and  agrarians 
will  not  suffer.  They  will  have  saved  enough  cash. 
They  will  not  have  put  all  their  money  into  war  loans. 
The  small  people,  however,  will  be  hard  hit.  Having 
confidence  in  the  government's  promises,  they  have 
invested  all  their  savings. 

It  is  a  piece  of  rascality  worthy  of  the  Prussian 
rulers  that  they  did  not  confine  the  extortion  of  the 
blood  money  to  those  who  profit  by  the  war,  but 
through  outrageous  publicity  and  direct  compulsion, 
forced  so  many  people  of  small  means  to  give  up  their 
last  pennies.  The  people  in  poor  or  even  moderate 
circumstances  will  lose  their  all.  They  are  not  in 
the  same  fortunate  position  as  the  agrarian  and  in- 


254  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

dustrial  profiteers,  who  get  their  money  back  now, 
right  during  the  war,  with  5%  interest  into  the  bar- 
gain. 

How  many  more  war  loans  are  to  be  put  over  before 
the  end  comes? 

There  is  something  else  to  be  considered  besides 
the  huge  burden  of  interest  on  the  war  loans,  which 
burden,  by  the  way,  will  have  to  be  borne  by  a  nation 
thoroughly  impoverished  and  sucked  dry. 

The  people,  utterly  ruined,  will  also  have  to  pay 
the  damages,  pensions,  etc.,  that  a  war  brings  in  its 
train.  Is  it  possible  ?  Does  any  one  think  the  people 
will  be  able  to  stand  it? 

As  long  as  the  same  brains  continue  to  impose  taxes 
as  have  done  so  heretofore,  there  will  be  no  prospect 
of  making  the  propertied  classes  help  carry  their  due 
share  of  the  burden.  Nor  will  the  propertied  classes 
be  willing  to  put  the  control  of  the  state  into  other 
hands.  It  will  take  more  than  gentle  suasion  to  con- 
vince them. 

Accordingly,  a  great  reckoning  is  bound  to  come, 
and,  as  a  result  of  it,  the  complete  downfall  of  the 
old  order.  The  liquidation  of  this  war  business,  of 
all  these  unheard-of  contracts,  can  eventuate  in  noth- 
ing but  a  tremendous  crash. 

And  when  the  crash  comes  and  stands  revealed  to 


The  Crash  255 

all  eyes,  will  the  people  then  ask,  What  brought  this 
about?  What  were  the  forces  at  work?  Whose  policy 
is  to  blame  for  a  catastrophe  such  as  the  world  has 
never  seen? 

When  the  veil  has  dropped  from  all  the  "father- 
land" dissimulation,  from  all  the  infamous  lies,  the 
people  will  cast  about  for  the  ultimate  causes  of  the 
great  disaster  that  befell  them.  I  wonder  whether 
even  then  a  Bethmann-Hollweg  will  arise  and  have 
the  brazenness  to  trump  up  the  fairy  tale  of  the 
naughty  neighbors  who  envied  the  good  Michel  and 
wanted  to  steal  what  belonged  to  him.  I  scarcely 
think  any  one  will  want  to  continue  to  challenge  the 
wrath  of  the  people  by  offering  them  such  lies.  On 
the  contrary,  I  believe  that  then  honorable  men  will 
be  found  who  will  frankly  say  it  was  nothing  but 
CaBsar-madness  that  plunged  the  people  into  such  a 
war,  who  will  tell  the  people  that  no  neighbors 
thought  of  taking  anything  away  from  us  or  attack- 
ing us;  that  a  handful  of  rascals  with  a  madman  at 
their  head  lighted  the  world  conflagration  to  boil 
their  broth  on,  and  Prussian  Caesarism,  that  decaying 
old  institution  all  covered  with  mold,  expected  to 
polish  itself  and  acquire  fresh  luster  through  a  war 
of  conquest,  and  new  life  was  to  be  pumped  into  the 
corpse  of  the  monarchy. 


256  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

The  antedeluvian  pretensions  of  kaiserism  began  to 
fade  hopelessly  even  before  the  war.  They  have  been 
dissolving  as  steam  dissolves  in  the  air.  Such  things 
were  no  longer  the  order  of  the  day.  The  times  were 
ripe  for  monarchical  claims  to  be  swept  aside. 

The  kaiser  wanted,  by  force  if  necessary,  to  play 
a  big  conspicuous  role.  So  he  scalded  his  lips  on 
everybody  else's  porridge,  and  tried  to  compel  the 
whole  world  to  go  his  way,  and  mixed  in  affairs  that 
were  none  of  his  business — the  superfluous  creature, 
superfluous  and  ridiculous  both  in  his  role  as  "peace 
kaiser ' '  and  ' l  war-lord. ' ' 

In  order  to  give  the  German  people  an  object  les- 
son in  how  necessary  his  existence  was  as  ruler,  he 
did  not  hesitate,  when  he  thought  the  hour  propitious, 
to  plunge  the  world  into  a  sea  of  blood  and  tears. 

He  was  the  natural  champion  of  a  policy  of  un- 
restricted expansion.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  the 
captains  of  industry  and  finance  realized  in  time  to 
what  quarter  to  turn  for  the  fulfillment  of  their  ex- 
travagant plans  for  world  conquest.  Modern  capi- 
talism allied  itself  with  mystical  Cagsarism.  Every 
session  of  the  Reichstag  during  the  war  furnishes 
proof  of  the  union,  now  become  indissoluble,  between 
monarchism  and  capitalism. 

How  ridiculous  is  the  role  played  in  this  perform- 


The  Crash  257 

ance  by  the  ' '  democrats "  in  the  Reichstag,  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  so-called  liberals.  They  never  find 
cause  for  serious  criticism  of  the  government.  The 
Kommandogewalt,  the  supreme  power,  is  a  touch-me- 
not.  They  have  given  themselves  over  body  and  soul 
to  kaiserism  and  capitalism. 

The  great  reckoning  will  be  all  the  easier  on  ac- 
count of  this  stand  of  the  "democrats."  There  will 
be  no  need  to  do  any  sorting.  All  the  representatives 
of  the  "bourgeoisie"  in  the  Reichstag,  on  account  of 
the  unqualified  support  they  gave  the  kaiser's  war 
policy,  share  in  the  guilt  of  this  war.  The  people 
will  hold  them  responsible,  just  as  responsible  as  the 
"war-lord"  himself. 

They,  too,  will  be  carried  down  in  the  great  crash ; 
and  they  will  have  deserved  their  fate. 

They,  too,  will  be  asked  to  answer  for  all  the 
bloodshed  and  all  the  tears  of  woe  and  misery. 

The  thing  that  will  collapse  in  Germany,  there- 
fore, will  be  the  whole  Prussian  system,  the  system 
that  plunged  the  world  into  disaster.  And  in  place 
of  that  system  will  step  human  rights,  the  right  to 
liberty,  the  right  to  bread  and  work  for  every  one. 

The  new  state  that  will  then  arise,  the  United  States 
of  the  World,  will  finally  realize  the  dream  of  the 


258  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

French  Revolution,  that  eternal  yearning  of  human- 
ity for  liberty,  equality  and  fraternity. 

After  the  collapse  of  Prussian  despotism  and  Prus- 
sian militarism,  those  deadly  enemies  of  mankind,  the 
world  will  be  as  one  great  nation. 


XL 
WERE  THE  PEACE  PROPOSALS  SINCERE? 

ON  the  12th  of  December,  1916,  the  comedy  was 
put  on  the  boards,  all  the  managerial  methods  at  the 
command  of  parliamentarian  and  diplomat  having 
been  employed  to  produce  it. 

Letters  and  telegrams  flew  hither  and  thither.  My 
goodness,  it  mustn't  be  kept  concealed  from  mankind 
that  His  Majesty  with  his  own  hands  had  indited  a 
touching  letter  to  the  chancellor.  Express  trains 
chased  to  headquarters  and  back  again,  to  all  the 
battlefronts  and  back  again.  High  and  mighty  per- 
sonages rode  to  Berlin  and  to  the  other  German  capi- 
tals for  important  conferences,  greeted  everywhere 
by — in  the  columns  of  the  "fatherland''  press — great, 
jubilant  throngs. 

With  a  mighty  flourish  of  trumpets  all  the  per- 
sonages who  give  the  tone  in  war-Germany  were  sum- 
moned to  Berlin.  Any  man  fitted  to  give  the  great 
day  still  greater  significance  had  to  be  present  at 
this  gala  performance  in  the  Reichstheater — I  beg 


260  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

pardon,    I    mean    at   the    session    in    the   Reichstag 
building. 

Through  dark  insinuations,  little  indiscretions,  in- 
tentional half-truths,  both  spoken  and  written,  by  tele- 
phone and  telegraph  and  wireless,  all  the  nations  (but 
each  under  the  seal  of  secrecy)  was  duly  made  aware 
that  Berlin  was  going  to  spring  a  sensation.  Breath- 
less suspense  was  to  prevail  over  the  whole  globe. 
And  in  the  universal  silence  of  expectancy  the  great 
surprise  was  to  burst  with  a  peal — the  Kaiser's  peace 
proposal ! 

The  peal  was  to  announce  the  beginning  of  a  play 
different  from  the  kind  that  had  been  acting  in  Ber- 
lin for  years. 

HE,  the  "supreme  war-lord,"  was  to  step  before 
the  curtain  and  hold  out  his  hand  of  peace  to  all  the 
nations,  that  hand  still  dripping  with  blood — the 
other  hand  convulsively  clutching  his  sword  and  hid- 
den in  shame  behind  his  back.  He  would  stand  there 
in  that  attitude,  everything  in  one,  hero,  conqueror, 
angel  of  peace,  his  gleaming  armor  hidden  beneath 
the  white  robe  of  innocence,  while  the  gentle  sound 
of  flutes  accompanied  the  act  of  might. 

Peace!  Peace  on  earth!  The  word  millions  had 
been  yearning  for,  the  magic  word — he  would  pro- 


Were  the  Peace  Proposals  Sincere?     261 

nounce  it,  lie  would  offer  the  world,  would  offer  bleed- 
ing, agonizing  humanity,  peace ! 

Was  he  sincere?  Did  he  really  mean  his  proposal 
of  peace  ?  The  enemies  did  not  believe  in  his  sincer- 
ity. "We  received  your  message,"  was  the  answer 
from  all  sides,  "but  we  have  no  confidence  in  it." 

Were  they  right  or  wrong?  Was  the  Kaiser's  pro- 
posal to  be  trusted  or  was  it  not  to  be  trusted? 

Kaiser  William's  offer  of  peace  begins  with  two 
premises.  One  is,  that  he  standing  there  as  victor 
is  holding  out  his  hand  in  peace.  An  untruth.  He 
was  not  a  victor.  The  second  premise  is  that  it  was 
the  enemies  who  had  thrown  the  glove  into  the  ring. 

Because  of  the  recent  capture  of  Bukharest,  in 
which,  he  seems  to  overlook,  'Austria,  Bulgaria  and 
Turkey  materially  aided,  he  stood  there  as  victor,  his 
breast  swelling  with  pride.  The  conquest  of  a  num- 
ber of  wrecked  petroleum  wells  and  half-burned  gran- 
aries probably  gave  him  the  assurance  that  the  in- 
vincibility of  the  German  army  had  now  been  estab- 
lished once  for  all  and  that  the  enemies  must  recognize 
further  resistance  to  be  unavailing. 

Was  he  a  victor  ?  Was  England  defeated  ?  Has  a  sin- 
gle German  soldier  ever  set  foot  on  the  British  Isles? 
Was  there  ever  a  chance  of  German  armies  attacking 
the  British  Isles?  On  the  contrary,  isn't  England 


262  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

daily  developing  more  power  on  French  soil  to  re- 
sist and  defeat  Germany? 

Is  France  defeated?  Is  the  republic  down  on  its 
knees  suing  for  peace?  Did  not  the  French  people 
at  the  Marne  hold  up  the  German  hosts  surging  into 
the  land  like  a  tidal  wave?  At  the  Yser  and  at  Ver- 
dun they  gave  ample  proof  of  their  ability  to  defend 
their  own  soil,  filling  a  whole  world  with  admiration. 

Is  Italy  defeated  ? 

With  a  few  exceptions  William  II  had  not  attained 
his  war  aims  and  so  was  not  justified  in  strutting  out 
on  the  stage  as  victor.  He  himself  knew  it  best  of 
all,  and  might  have  had  the  sense  to  realize  that  no 
enemy  government  would  enter  into  peace  negotiations 
on  the  basis  of  palpable  untruths. 

His  peace  overtures,  therefore,  were  not  really 
meant. 

He  said  it  was  the  enemies  who  threw  the  glove  into 
the  ring.  Can  he  expect  credence  for  this  when  it 
was  he  who  in  August,  1914,  declared  war  on  Eussia 
and  two  days  later  on  France;  when  it  was  he  who 
fell  upon  and  devastated  Belgium,  thereby  hurling  a 
declaration  of  war  at  every  civilized  nation,  in  fact,  at 
every  decent  human  being  ? 

He  is  simply  glossing  over  a  crass  lie  with  mean 
hypocrisy. 


Were  the  Peace  Proposals  Sincere?     263 

Does  William  II  actually  suppose  that  the  enemies 
would  be  ready  to  enter  into  peace  negotiations  on 
the  basis  of  such  claims?  Even  he  is  scarcely  poor 
enough  psychologist  to  think  that.  Consequently, 
his  bid  for  peace  must  have  been  insincere. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  whether  in  general 
William  IPs  government  can  make  a  genuine  offer 
of  peace.  Any  one  in  a  position  to  formulate  a 
correct  picture  of  the  situation  in  the  German  Em- 
pire will  be  compelled  to  answer  the  question  in  the 
negative. 

The  government  knows  from  innumerable  signs 
that  some  time,  at  the  very  latest  upon  the  conclusion 
of  peace,  a  day  of  reckoning  with  its  own  people  is 
bound  to  come.  That  day  must  be  kept  as  remote 
as  possible. 

In  spite  of  the  veil  cast  over  events  since  the  out- 
break of  the  war,  the  German  people  have  a  better 
insight  into  things  than  is  generally  assumed.  They 
know  that  the  few  German  conquests  do  not  mean 
that  anything  has  been,  or  will  be,  attained.  They 
discuss  these  matters  and  admit  that  all  the  sacri- 
fices of  life,  money,  and  property  have  been  in  vain 
and  that  if  peace  is  to  come,  all  occupied  territory 
for  one  thing  must  be  evacuated,  while,  for  another 
thing,  the  fate  of  the  costly  German  colonies  will 


264  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

remain  uncertain.  In  brief,  the  people  are  conscious 
that  the  government  went  into  a  poor  business. 

Nothing  of  this  finds  public  expression.  If  it  did, 
what  would  be  the  use  of  the  military  dictatorship? 
But  the  feeling  is  there,  and  an  extremely  dangerous 
feeling  it  is,  too,  especially  among  the  lower  classes. 
However  that  may  be,  one  thing  is  certain,  the  one 
act  on  the  part  of  the  government  which  would  meet 
with  widest  approval  would  be  simply  to  throw  the 
cards  down  on  the  table. 

The  German  nation  would  breathe  an  immense 
sigh  of  relief. 

But  the  time  is  not  yet  ripe.  Nor  is  it  probable 
that  William  II 's  government  will  ever  take  this  step 
voluntarily.  In  any  case,  whenever  the  hour  strikes, 
it  will  strike  too  soon  in  the  opinion  of  the  Prussian 
rulers,  who  owe  their  period  of  grace  to  the  belief 
still  prevailing  among  the  bourgeoisie  and  the  Social- 
ists, that  these  must  identify  themselves  with  the 
policy  of  the  government.  The  rulers  are  making 
most  excellent  use  of  their  reprieve.  They  are  adopt- 
ing the  extremest  measures  to  safeguard  themselves 
against  the  coming  crash,  such  as  the  law  of  entail  in 
the  Prussian  Landtag  and  other  measures  that  are 
more  securely  kept  from  public  knowledge. 

Therefore,  when  you  consider  that  the  acceptance 


Were  the  Peace  Proposals  Sincere?     265 

of  William  II 's  peace  proposal  would  mean  the  end 
of  the  war  and,  consequent^,  the  end  of  the  military 
dictatorship,  and  the  end  of  the  military  dictatorship 
would  mean  that  the  last  branch  had  been  lopped  off 
to  which  all  the  powers  in  Prusso-Germany  have  been 
clinging  frantically,  you  cannot  but  realize  that  the 
peace  offer  could  not  have  been  meant  in  all  sincerity. 

There  is  even  further  proof  that  it  was  a  fraudu- 
lent proposition. 

The  statesmen  of  the  enemy  countries  have  made  it 
quite  clear  to  William  II 's  government  that  they  are 
unwilling  ever  to  treat  with  it  again,  since  they  can- 
not place  reliance  upon  its  word. 

After  Germany's  violation  of  treaties  made  before 
the  war,  as  though  they  were  mere  scraps  of  paper, 
nobody  wants  to  run  the  same  risk  at  the  very  next 
opportunity.  Moreover,  the  German  government  has 
been  given  to  understand  in  by  no  means  ambiguous 
terms  that  the  Entente  governments  do  not  look  upon 
it  as  the  qualified  representative  of  the  German  na- 
tion, with  the  right  to  make  settlements  affecting  the 
nation's  future,  since  it  succeeds  in  holding  on  to  the 
rudder  only  by  the  most  unscrupulous  exercise  of  its 
terrorizing  military  power  and  by  grossly  deceiving 
the  people  concerning  the  true  state  of  affairs. 

In  the  face  of  this  plain  refusal  to  treat  with  the 


266  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

German  government,  a  serious  proposal  of  peace  was 
out  of  the  question.  It  was  a  maneuver  for  the  pur- 
pose of  deceiving  the  German  people  themselves. 

Are  we  to  deduce,  therefore,  that  William  II  's  over- 
tures of  peace  were  made  only  because  he  was  sure 
they  would  be  refused?  Is  it  that  he  doesn't  want 
peace  in  any  circumstances?  But  the  peace  offer  is 
here;  it  has  been  made.  In  the  words  of  its  author, 
it  is  to  be  a  milestone,  a  turning-point  in  the  history 
of  the  war,  a  signal  hoisted  on  high  of  the  love  of 
peace  shown  by  the  "prince  of  peace,"  William  II. 
This  was  not  his  first  offer  of  peace,  either.  A 
whole  series  had  preceded  it.  Ever  since  the  battle 
of  the  Marne,  there  has  been  no  cease  to  similar  at- 
tempts, directed  in  turn  to  all  the  enemies.  There 
was  the  comedy  with  Montenegro  and  the  long- 
drawn  out  secret  negotiations  between  Eussian  and 
German  diplomats. 

But  the  bid  of  December,  1916,  differs  from  its 
predecessors  in  two  essential  points.  One  is  its  mag- 
nitude, four  governments  simultaneously  proffering 
peace  to  ten  governments.  Till  now  there  had  been 
talk  of  only  separate  peace  treaties.  It  was  an  es- 
sential departure  from  the  German  government 's  prin- 
ciple to  get  each  opponent  by  himself  into  its  grasp 
and  then,  if  necessary,  play  him  off  against  the 


Were  the  Peace  Proposals  Sincere?     267 

others.  Also,  it  was  a  concession,  if  an  unwilling  one, 
to  the  London  agreement  of  September,  1914,  by  which 
the  Entente  Powers  bound  themselves  not  to  make  sep- 
arate peace  treaties,  but  to  conclude  a  peace  only  in 
common. 

The  second  and  more  important  point  of  differ- 
ence between  this  peace  proposal  and  its  predecessors 
is  that  it  was  an  apparent  break  with  the  favorite 
method  of  secret  negotiations.  This  t;me  the  Central 
Powers  stepped  out  in  full  view  of  the  world  when 
making  an  offer  to  treat  with  the  enemy.  But  the 
break  with  the  principle  of  secrecy  was  only  apparent. 
In  reality  it  had  not  been  abandoned.  The  terms  of 
peace  were  not  made  known. 

After  William  II 's  government  had  thus,  to  all  ap- 
pearances, resorted  to  publicity,  no  bell  could  be 
found  big  enough  to  announce  the  enterprize  of  such 
prodigious  import  to  the  happiness  of  the  world; 
which  explains  the  pomp  of  the  Berlin  performance. 

The  public  presentation  was  not  designed,  of  course, 
for  the  enemy  governments.  That  they  were  not  to 
be  won  over  must  long  before  have  been  observed  by 
the  prominent  psychologists  of  Wilhelmstrasse,  who 
had  already  had  opportunities  to  judge  of  this  by  the 
attitude  the  enemies  had  invariably  taken  on  the 
former  occasions  when  Germany  came  awooing. 


268  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

The  performance  was  a  play  to  the  neutrals,  and 
to  the  gallery,  the  German  people.  Also  to  the  people 
of  the  enemy  countries. 

The  neutrals,  the  dear  souls,  were  to  be  given  the 
benefit  of  a  lovely  pastoral,  so  as  to  get  them  to  ex- 
press their  sanction,  as  it  were,  of  the  continuation 
of  the  drama.  And  in  the  last  scene  they  were  to  be 
assigned  a  part,  that  of  also  dying  a  sacrificial  death 
pour  le  Roi  de  Prusse. 

It  was  a  play  to  the  gallery,  to  the  German  nation, 
this  nation,  whose  sacrifices  long  before  had  passed 
the  bounds  of  the  humanly  possible,  whose  patience 
and  long-suffering  daily  provoked  the  astonishment 
of  even  its  own  rulers.  In  the  alleged  interest  of 
its  future  it  allowed  ever  fresh  and  more  unheard-of 
sacrifices  to  be  extorted  from  it.  Universal  compulsory 
work  had  just  been  made  the  law  of  the  land, 
months  of  actual  starvation  stood  at  the  door,  after 
long  months  of  privation  had  already  been  endured. 
So  the  government  felt  it  did  not  want  the  people  to 
miss  the  pleasure  of  a  sweet,  lovely  play,  the  peace 
offer  of  their  Kaiser.  A  mirage  will  comfort  the 
parched  wanderer  in  the  desert. 

Now  the  blame  for  the  continuation  of  the  war, 
for  all  the  hunger  and  bloodshed  to  follow,  would 
surely  fall  upon  the  enemies,  especially  that  black 


Were  the  Peace  Proposals  Sincere?     269 

devil,  England;  and  the  German  nation,  chanting 
hymns  of  hate  anew,  was  to  forget  who  was  the  really 
guilty  one.  But  hymns  of  hate  will  not  go  on  satis- 
fying soul  and  body  forever,  and  even  the  cleverest 
dissimulation  will  not  deceive  forever,  no  matter  how 
much  the  public  announcements,  from  those  made  by 
Westarp  to  those  made  by  Scheidemann,  may  all  harp 
on  the  one  theme,  namely,  that  the  refusal  of  the 
Kaiser's  peace  proposal  will  have  to  be  answered  for 
by — the  sacrifice  of  all  Germans  still  left  alive! 

William's  intentions  toward  the  enemy  peoples,  in 
his  presenting  of  the  pastoral,  were  particularly 
benevolent.  He  hoped  to  be  able  to  thrust  a  wedge 
between  the  peoples  and  their  respective  governments 
by  getting  them  over  as  his  allies  in  a  suit  for  peace. 

He  wanted  to  sow  distrust  and  discord.  The 
"fatherland"  press  makes  this  clear  beyond  all  doubt. 

But  here,  too,  William  II  showed  he  was  a  poor 
psychologist,  in  crediting  the  democratic  peoples  with 
as  little  insight  into  the  essentials  of  the  world  con- 
flict as  the  German  people  possess.  The  sowing  of 
peace,  he  hoped,  would  turn  out  to  be  a  sowing  of 
dragons'  teeth.  Badly  mistaken  again.  Not  a  single 
person  thinks  of  his  peace  offer  any  more.  The 
author  of  it  is  too  suspicious  a  character. 

William  II  had  the  same  objects  in  view  in  keeping 


270  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

his  peace  terms  indefinite.  The  invitation  to  enter 
into  negotiations  was  directed  to  ten  different  govern- 
ments with  widely  varying  interests.  One  or  the 
other  of  them  might  snap  at  the  bait  and  show  a  will 
to  disappear  behind  the  doors  of  the  conference  cham- 
ber and  listen  to  the  " acceptable  terms."  The  first- 
comer,  of  course,  could  count  on  the  best  terms;  and 
something  had  been  prepared  for  each.  Italy  was  to 
get  a  slice  of  Italia  irredenta,  Russia  was  to  have  the 
' 'kingdom"  of  Poland  restored  to  her,  and  so  on. 

Distrust  and  dissension  among  the  Entente  allies 
would  have  been  the  inevitable  result  of  separate  peace 
treaties.  Exactly  what  the  diplomats  of  Wilhelm- 
strasse  were  aiming  at.  But  success  was  denied  them. 
The  enemies'  distrust  of  them  was  insuperable,  and 
rightly  so. 

The  peace  that  is  to  end  this  war  must  not  be  of 
the  kind  that  consists  in  the  diplomats  exchanging 
knowing  smiles  and  shaking  hands  like  old  cronies, 
and  the  royal  cousins  embracing  and  kissing  and 
toasting  one  another.  It  would  not  be  worth  the 
trouble  to  conclude  a  peace  of  that  sort  and  leave 
everything  the  way  it  always  has  been — more  arma- 
ments, larger  armies  and  navies,  unrest  and  anxiety 
in  all  the  nations,  and  the  constant  prospect  of  a  war 
that  would  overshadow  the  present  war  in  frightful- 


Were  the  Peace  Proposals  Sincere?     271 

ness.  No,  rather  an  end  in  horror,  than  horror  with- 
out end !  All  the  precious  blood  that  has  been  shed 
will  then  have  been  shed  in  vain. 

The  peace  that  is  coming  will  be  concluded  by  the 
people  themselves,  the  people  who  have  done  the 
fighting.  It  will  be  an  open,  honorable  peace,  because 
it  will  not  rest  upon  injustice  and  conquest,  as  does 
the  peace  that  William  II  offers  us. 

It  seems  almost  superfluous  to  ask  whether,  in  view 
of  all  this,  the  Berlin  performance  was  only  a  trap 
for  the  enemy  and  a  bluff  in  all  circumstances. 

Oh,  no !    By  no  means. 

Before  the  desperate  starving  German  people  would 
have  a  chance  to  thrust  aside  all  of  William  II  's 
actors  and  make  the  enemy  nations  an  honorable  bid 
for  peace,  HE,  of  course,  preferred  to  come  out  on 
the  stage  in  the  magnificent  pose  of  imperator  rex 
and  benevolently  hand  the  imperial  gift  of  peace  to 
the  nations  down  on  their  knees  begging — hand  it  to 
them  on  the  point  of  his  sword. 

If  he  could  have  stood  before  the  German  nation 
and  the  whole  world  as  war  hero  and  victor,  as  con- 
queror and  "enlarger  of  the  empire,"  enlarger  by 
even  the  tiniest  slice  of  land  or  the  smallest  indemnity, 
he  would  gladly  have  concluded  peace — to-day,  rath- 
er than  to-morrow. 


272  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

If  he  could  have  been  sure  of  the  maintenance  of 
his  throne  and  his  dynasty,  sure,  that  is,  of  nothing 
happening  to  himself  upon  the  conclusion  of  peace, 
he  would  magnanimously  have  consented  to  stop  the 
terrible  torture  that  he  himself  was  inflicting  on 
humanity.  The  nations  would  then  have  been  per- 
mitted to  cure  their  wounds  again. 

If  the  peace  could  have  ended  with  an  apotheosis 
of  himself,  if  he  could  have  stood  on  the  stage  as  the 
bearer  of  peace,  in  the  white  robe  of  innocence,  with 
the  palm  branch  in  his  hand,  and  the  glare  of  the 
footlights  upon  his  brilliant  person,  the  flutes  and 
cymbals  playing  the  dainty  accompaniment  to  the 
pastoral,  all  of  mankind  lying  prostrate  at  his  feet, 
turning  tear-filled  eyes  upon  him  gratefully,  it  would 
have  been  a  conclusion  quite  to  the  taste  of  this  actor 
and  theatrical  manager. 

"An  end  to  strife!     The  war  must  go! 
For  my  strong  arm  decrees  it  so!" 

would  have  been  the  concluding  sentence  of  a  drama 
written  by  Kaiser  William  II  with  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II 
playing  the  leading  part. 


XLI 
VON  BETHMANN-HOLLWEG 

WHAT  difference  did  it  make  who  the  new  chancellor 
would  be  in  Herr  von  Billow 's  place  ? 

Billow,  it  is  known,  ventured  most  humbly  to  call 
His  Majesty's  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  might 
perhaps  be  better  if  His  Majesty  put  a  little  curb  on 
His  Majesty's  tongue  after  His  Majesty  had  made  a 
bad  break  in  a  conversation  with  his  English  friend. 

Unheard  of!  His  Majesty  had  no  use  for  servants 
like  that.  This  Prussian  Junker  was  too  democratic, 
too  permeated  with  western  ideals.  Such  a  thing 
would  never  do  at  the  court  of  Kaiser  William  II. 

Fancy  prohibiting  His  Majesty,  the  speaker  par 
excellence,  from  speaking! 

Von  Billow  had  to  go.  He  was  not  enough  of  a 
courtier.  Most  assuredly  he  had  to  go. 

He  went,  and  for  his  successor  recommended  a  man 
whom  His  Majesty  could  make  excellent  use  of,  the 
bureaucrat,  Bethmann-Hollweg.  His  Majesty  need 
fear  no  such  subversive  ideas  from  him,  the  correct 
Prussian  official. 

273 


274  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

As  I  said,  what  difference  who  the  new  chancellor 
would  be?  He  made  less  difference  than  Billow. 

What  if  there  was  a  new  chancellor?  I  came  near 
saying  butler. 

Change  of  servants,  that's  all.  What  difference 
did  it  make  to  the  nation  who  the  new  butler  was, 
or  what  his  name  was  ?  None !  None  whatsoever ! 

I  was  convinced  in  advance  that  Bethmann-Holl- 
weg  was  just  the  sort  of  dry,  petty  bureaucrat  that  a 
Prussian  official  is  bound  to  be.  Even  his  greatest 
enemy  would  not  have  charged  him  with  a  spinal 
column  or  independence  of  opinion.  The  very  ser- 
vant, therefore,  for  His  Majesty. 

The  first  time  the  man  attracted  attention  was  at 
the  discussion  of  the  Zabern  affair  in  the  Reichstag. 
Yes,  just  the  narrow  sort  of  soul  to  come  up  to  the 
most  cherished  traditional  ideals  of  Prussian  official- 
dom. 

Not  the  faintest  gleam  of  the  times  we  are  living 
in  has  penetrated  his  intelligence. 

There  is  no  question  in  his  mind  but  that  the  '  *  can- 
aille," the  nation  of  65,000,000  people,  is  of  no  ac- 
count whatsoever  next  to  his  " gracious  lord,"  and 
the  "canaille"  has  nothing  to  say,  but  only  to  stand 
stiff  as  soldiers  on  parade,  and  never  mutiny  against 


Von  Bethmann-Hollweg  275 

the  "supreme  command."  Eight  about  face!  March! 
And  be  off  with  you. 

This  tedious  philosopher  is  chancellor  of  the  realm, 
this  man  with  the  intellectual  qualities  of  a  nine-dol- 
lar-a-week  office  clerk,  who  never  would  dare  to 
straighten  out  his  reverentially  crooked  spine  and  lift 
his  head  to  reconnoiter  the  ground  across  which  the 
policy  of  the  man  on  high,  "responsible  to  no  one," 
is  leading  the  German  nation.  Oh,  what  a  dried-up, 
bony  bureaucrat  he  is,  with  the  soul  of  a  clerk,  inca- 
pable of  nights  of  imagination,  utterly  devoid  of 
strength  and  force. 

He  cannot  wax  indignant,  or  violent  or  passionate, 
like  Bismarck,  as  you  might  expect  him  to  in  this 
"great  time."  No,  he  simply  displays  venom,  and 
mean  little  hate  and  pettiness. 

All  his  addresses  to  the  Beichstag  during  the  war 
only  confirm  this  impression,  especially  his  speech  of 
December  9,  1915,  when  he  repeated  each  of  the  plati- 
tudes and  malicious  attacks  on  other  nations,  each 
of  the  publicity  notices  for  the  Prussian  "organiza- 
tion ' '  that  the  national-liberal  papers  had  been  giving 
us  for  one  and  a  half  years  ad  nauseam. 

How  those  English  did  annoy  the  poor  man !  Per- 
fectly dreadful !  Really  it  was  simply  shocking  how 
they  made  the  good  soul  suffer.  In  spite  of  every- 


276  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

thing  he  had  said  so  often,  they  absolutely  refused  to 
believe  that  they  had  been  utterly  defeated. 

They  hadn't  noticed  they  were  defeated.  So  he 
had  to  keep  on  scuffling  with  the  vile  pack,  even 
though  he  had  thrown  them  to  the  ground  long  be- 
fore. Gott  strafe  England! 


XLII 
MUNCHNER  NEUESTE  NACHRICHTEN 

I  HAVE  often  wondered  why  this  paper  is  called 
Munchner  Neueste  Nachrichten.  What  has  it  got  to 
do  with  Munich? 

You  'd  think,  since  it  is  called  Munchner,  that  you  'd 
find  something  of  the  spirit  of  that  lovely,  genial  city 
in  its  columns.  You  search  in  vain.  There's  noth- 
ing of  Munich  in  the  Munchner  Neueste  Nachrichten, 
nothing  to  recall  the  spirit  which  has  made  Munich's 
fame,  that  innocent  enjoyment  of  life  and  innate 
democracy  which,  as  it  were,  leads  minister  of  the 
cabinet  and  servant  to  sit  side  by  side  at  the  table, 
which  moves  a  man  to  hold  out  his  hand  unsuspect- 
ingly to  every  other  man  in  simple  friendliness. 

The  thing  that  grins  at  us  daily  from  its  columns 
is  Pan-Prussian  megalomania  in  its  most  violent  form. 
And  Pan-Prussianism  has  contempt  for  everything 
that  does  not  harmonize  with  its  Berlin  patterns. 

Every  number,  every  line  reeks  with  the  most  ex- 
aggerated race  hatred.  In  its  persecution  mania  the 

277 


278  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

paper  sees  enemies,  envious  of  Prussia's  greatness, 
squatting  round  in  a  circle  ready  to  pounce. 

For  about  thirty  years  Prussian  corruption  has  been 
doing  good  work  here,  scarcely  to  be  excelled  any- 
where. 

When  after  1870  a  healthy  reaction  set  in  among 
the  Bavarians  against  the  arrogant  guardianship  exer- 
cised by  Prussia  and  against  its  scarcely  concealed 
lust  for  the  absorption  of  other  German  states,  this 
sentiment  seemed  so  dangerous  to  the  Prussian  rulers 
that  they  went  to  a  good  big  expense  and  erected  a 
citadel  for  defense  and  offense  in  Munich,  and 
manned  it  with  the  notorious  Dr.  Hirth  and  other 
Prussian  heroes. 

In  the  heart  of  Bavaria,  at  the  Farbergraben  in 
Munich,  they  put  up  their  citadel,  and  from  there  the 
unsuspecting  Bavarian  nation  was  gradually  so 
tricked  and  deceived  and  Prussianized  that  it  accept- 
ed the  war  without  a  struggle,  as  though  it  had  to  be, 
and  to-day  is  sacrificing  its  life,  allowing  itself  to  be 
utterly  ruined,  for  the  sake  of  the  masters  of  the 
Miinchner  Neueste  Nachrichten. 

The  Bavarians  were  never  even  asked.  That's  the 
Great-Prussian  way  of  doing  things.  So  there  was 
nothing  left  for  the  poor  country  of  Bavaria  to  do 


Miinchner  Neueste  Nachrichten     279 

but  to  sacrifice  its  sons  and  to  lead  its  people  to 
destruction. 

All  for  the  greater  glory  of  Prussia ! 

The  universal  enmity  felt  for  Prussia  really  need 
not  have  concerned  Bavaria.  No  Englishman, 
Frenchman,  or  Eussian  would  have  done  us  any 
harm.  But  in  1914  this,  the  most  sensible  idea,  never 
occurred  to  any  one  of  us.  Bavaria  could  no  longer 
collect  her  thoughts.  She  had  been  too  stultified  by 
Prussia's  branch-office  on  the  Sendlingerstrasse  in 
Munich. 

There  are  people,  whom  I  actually  envy,  who  can 
rise  so  superior  to  themselves  as  to  be  able  to  take 
the  Nachrichten  as  though  it  were  a  comic  paper. 
They  simply  smile  at  the  infamies  heaped  up  in  each 
number. 

I  am  sorry  for  myself,  but  I  simply  cannot  get  any 
fun  out  of  the  Nachrichten.  For  it  was  this  news- 
paper that  almost  brought  me  to  the  point  of  losing 
all  my  faith  in  humanity. 

Decency,  honor,  justice,  are  things  it  doesn't  seem 
to  know  even  by  name.  It  seems  never  to  have  heard 
of  a  sense  of  dignity  or  a  sense  of  responsibility. 
You'd  not  doubt  this  if  you  saw  the  way  the  war  is 
conducted  in  its  columns. 

If  the  civilized  world  were  to  judge  Munich  by  its 


280  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

newspaper,  the  city  would  have  to  hide  its  head  in 
shame.  Fortunately,  however,  the  world  does  not 
know  this  cosmopolitan  sheet,  nor  read  the  hymns  of 
hate  appearing  in  it  daily. 

The  pleasant  recollections  that  the  name  of  Munich 
may  evoke,  the  memories  of  sacred  moments  spent  in 
the  lofty  enjoyment  of  art  will  not  be  spoiled  by  the 
frenzied  barking  of  the  Munchner  Neueste  Nachrich- 
ten.  Nobody  in  the  outside  world  hears  it. 

But  we  here  in  Bavaria  must  listen  to  it.  We  have 
to  look  on  while  the  fair  name  of  Munich  is  being 
barbarously  besmirched  and  the  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings of  the  Bavarians  are  being  falsified.  All  by  the 
orders  of  that  dark,  violent  Prussianism  which  clubs 
down  everything  striving  upward  for  truth,  light, 
and  liberty. 

Every  day  the  columns  of  the  Munchner  Neueste 
Nachrichten  are  filled  with  shrieking  and  yelling  and 
raging,  roaring,  whining,  cursing,  lying. 

All  it  wants  to  do  is  sow  hatred,  hatred  among  the 
nations.  Let  it  take  care  that  in  sowing  the  wind 
it  will  not  reap  the  whirlwind. 

The  whirlwind  might  blow  down  that  Prussian  cit- 
adel of  lies  on  the  Sendlingerstrasse. 

Some  day  at  last  the  eyes  of  the  people  of  Munich 


Miinchner  Neueste  Nachrichten      281 

will  open,  and  then  will  come  the  great  reckoning. 

The  handiwork  of  this  mixer  of  poisons,  who  too 
long  poured  venom  into  international  relationships, 
will  be  destroyed  once  for  all. 


XLIII 
WHAT  IS  THE  OBSTACLE  TO  PEACE? 

MILLIONS  and  millions  are  yearning  for  peace.  In 
the  belligerent  countries  there  is  nothing  the  people 
want  so  much  as  peace,  as  the  end  of  this  bloody 
struggle. 

There  seems  to  be  scarcely  another  thought  in  the 
world  beside  peace,  peace,  peace 

And  yet  after  all  these  horrible  years  of  war  peace 
is  still  far  off. 

Why  ?  Why,  when  humanity 's  longing  for  peace  is 
so  great? 

Each  of  the  belligerent  governments  declares  its 
readiness  to  conclude  peace,  provided,  however,  that 
the  enemy  admits  defeat.  Otherwise  the  war  has  to 
go  on  until  he  does  admit  defeat. 

When  one  realizes,  as  one  must  very  clearly,  that 
the  highwater  mark  of  German  victories  was  reached 
long  ago  and  Germany  cannot  hope  for  the  fulfillment 
of  her  war  aims,  one  is  tempted  to  say  that  the  cause 
of  the  prolongation  of  the  war  is  sheer  insanity, 
Prussian  megalomania. 

282 


What  Is  the  Obstacle  to  Peace?     283 

But  Germany's  failure  to  admit  her  true  situation 
to  herself  forms  only  part  of  the  obstacle  to  peace.  A 
far  more  important  and  more  deeply  rooted  obstacle 
is  one  never  explicitly  mentioned,  but  only  hinted  at. 

If  the  chancellor  concludes  peace  now,  he  will  not 
secure  a  single  one  of  all  the  lovely  things  he  prom- 
ised the  German  people  as  a  result  of  the  war.  He 
must  step  before  the  people  and  confess  that  all  their 
sacrifices,  all  their  bloodshed,  all  the  woe  that  the 
war  has  brought  upon  them  will  have  been  to  no 
avail. 

And  when  he  has  made  this  admission,  then  all  of 
those  who  stuck  to  his  policy  through  thick  and  thin, 
believing  in  his  frantically  cherished  optimism,  will 
suddenly  begin  to  see  the  truth.  Their  eyes  will 
suddenly  be  opened. 

And  deadly  fright  will  take  hold  of  them  because 
of  the  sorry  results  of  the  war,  so  contrary  to  all 
the  promises  made.  They  will  ask  the  chancellor, 
Why?  Why  all  this  that  we  have  gone  through? 
Questions  that  he  will  not  be  able  to  answer. 

The  chancellor  dreads  these  questions,  and  in  his 
fear  of  them  resides  the  true  obstacle  to  peace. 

The  people,  now  become  clairvoyant,  will  want  to 
know  why  omnipotent  militarism  is  so  impotent,  why 
it  does  not  dictate  peace  as  it  always  boasted  it  would. 


284  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

The  people  will  want  to  know  who  it  was,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  that  gave  militarism  the  frightful  power 
to  plunge  the  German  nation  into  this  blood  bath. 
They  will  want  to  know  whose  will  militarism  is  to 
carry  out,  the  will  of  a  nation  of  65,000,000,  or  the 
will  of  a  single  individual,  "responsible  to  no  one." 

They  will  recollect  that  they  never  wanted  war, 
that  they  never  had  the  intention  of  attacking  any 
one,  and  that  they  derive  no  advantage  from  war. 
It  will  occur  to  them  that  only  a  single  individual 
and  his  clique,  hoping  for  greater  power  and  glory 
from  war,  might  have  derived  advantage  from  it. 

The  chancellor  will  be  asked  many  uncomfortable 
questions,  all  having  to  do  with  the  fate  of  the  mon- 
archy and  the  fate  of  all  the  rulers  of  unhappy  Ger- 
many. The  chancellor  and  his  masters  dread  the  day 
of  revelation  to  the  German  people.  That  is  why  the 
chancellor  cannot  conclude  peace  and  prevents  nego- 
tiations by  making  the  silly  demand  that  the  enemy 
shall  acknowledge  him  as  victor. 

Oh,  it  would  suit  him  beautifully  to  be  acknowl- 
edged victor.  Then  he  could  keep  on  lying  and  cheat- 
ing ;  and  the  great  reckoning  with  the  German  nation 
might  be  delayed  somewhat  longer  perhaps. 

The  certainty  that  in  the  end  he  will  have  no  more 
excuses  left  forces  him  constantly  to  be  devising  new 


What  Is  the  Obstacle  to  Peace?     285 

subterfuges.  And  so  fresh  sacrifices  of  life  must 
continue  to  be  made. 

If  the  German  people  want  to  see  for  themselves 
whether  the  standpoint  of  the  German  government  or 
the  standpoint  of  the  western  powers  is  the  one  that 
the  judgment  of  history  will  uphold,  all  they  need  do 
is  remember  the  idea  the  neutrals  have  of  the  basis 
on  which  future  peace  is  to  rest. 

A  careful  study  of  the  sentiment  in  the  neutral 
countries  shows  with  absolute  clearness  that  the  only 
peace  possible  is  one  serving  the  interests  of  the  en- 
tire world,  not  of  Germany  and  her  allies  alone. 
This  forces  us  to  the  conclusion,  very  surprising  to 
many  a  German,  that  all  the  neutrals  look  upon  the 
war  with  the  eyes  of  the  western  powers.  And  it  will 
never  occur  to  any  rational  man  to  doubt  that  during 
the  whole  period  of  the  war  the  neutrals  have  had 
ample  opportunity  to  learn  on  which  side  right  is, 
and  on  which  side  wrong. 

So,  in  the  end,  the  chancellor  will  have  to  admit 
the  bankruptcy  of  monarchism  and  militarism.  No 
matter  how  much  he  may  resist,  circumstances  will 
prove  stronger  than  he.  And  he  will  be  forced  to 
make  the  admission  under  far  more  unfavorable  cir- 
cumstances than  to-day. 


286  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

But  until  that  time  comes,  more  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  lives  will  have  to  be  sacrificed.  The  obstacle 
to  peace  will  have  to  be  washed  away  by  a  whole 
ocean  of  blood. 


XLIV 
THE  ASSASSINATION  IN  SERAJEVO 

IT  was  on  a  Monday.  You  could  tell  from  afar 

by  the  unusual  commotion  at  the  H Station  that 

something  extraordinary  had  happened. 

Groups  of  people  formed  and  then  scattered;  you 
saw  them  holding  newspapers  and  talking  excitedly. 
The  tragedy  had  occurred  the  day  before,  but  the 
news  did  not  come  out  in  the  papers  until  the  next 
morning's  editions. 

I  hurried  up  and  bought  a  paper.  "  Successor  to 
the  Austrian  throne  assassinated  in  Serajevo"  in 
great  black  headlines. 

We  were  all  frightened  and  surprised ;  surprised,  I 
should  say,  more  than  frightened,  because  there  had 
been  nothing  to  presage  an  awful  event  of  such  a 
nature. 

There  had  been  no  apparent  occasion  for  the  crime, 
nothing  to  point  to  such  an  explosion.  We  knew  of 
no  feeling  among  the  people  that  would  lead  to  so 
violent  an  outburst  of  passion. 

To  this  very  day  we  have  heard  nothing  reliable 
about  the  matter.  The  Austrian  government  has 

287 


288  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

made  little  enough  known  of  the  results  of  its  investi- 
gations into  the  assassination. 

It  was  a  crime  committed  for  political  motives. 
That  is  all  we  were  told. 

Purely  for  political  motives?  It  seems  to  me  sev- 
eral interrogation  marks  should  follow  this  official 
statement. 

The  assassins  were  scarcely  more  than  children. 
But  the  Servian  government,  charged  with  being  the 
instigator  and  accomplice  in  the  crime,  surely  could 
have  found  enough  adults  for  the  business.  It  hard- 
ly needed  children. 

Will  the  name  of  the  actual  assassin  perhaps  fur- 
nish a  key  to  the  puzzle  ?  He  called  himself  Prinzip, 
which  means  prince.  Maybe  it  was  his  real  name. 

Was  this  Prinzip  the  scion  of  some  princely  house 
of  Bosnia  which  felt  it  had  greater  claims  to  Bosnia 
than  Austria's  successor  to  the  throne? 

Did  Prinzip  in  a  surge  of  overwrought  youthful 
ambition  conspire  with  his  friends  to  punish  the  Aus- 
trian grand  duke  for  entering  the  city  as  lord  and 
master,  whereas  the  city  ought  to  recognize,  and  do 
homage  to,  none  but  him,  Prinzip,  as  lord  and  master? 
Doesn't  this  explain  the  otherwise  inexplicable  fact 
that  the  grand  duke's  wife  had  to  share  his  fate? 

In  no  circumstances  could  the  Servian  government 


The  Assassination  in  Serajevo        289 

have  an  interest  in  loading  itself  with  a  wholly  pur- 
poseless crime.  What  use  was  there  in  making  a 
woman  pay  with  her  life  for  her  husband's  politics? 

We  are  scarcely  likely  ever  to  learn  the  truth  about 
the  affair.  The  lips  of  the  unfortunate  children  have 
been  sealed  forever.  Death  graciously  came  and  re- 
lieved them  of  a  life  that  certainly  would  no  longer 
have  been  life,  but  a  slow,  long-drawn-out  death,  inch 
by  inch. 

Oh,  good  care  was  taken  that  they  should  not  re- 
main alive,  even  though,  on  account  of  their  youth, 
the  death  penalty  was  not  pronounced  against  them. 

Condemn  children  to  death?  Oh,  no!  Sensitive 
justice  in  civilized  Austria  would  never  do  anything 
of  the  sort.  It  was  the  children's  youth  that  denied 
them  the  mercifulness  of  a  quick  death,  not  the  con- 
sideration that  the  Austrian  state  by  annexing  Bosnia 
was  far  more  to  blame  for  the  crime  than  the  over- 
wrought young  assassins  themselves.  They,  in  their 
sad  impotence,  had  only  resorted  to  the  most  futile 
means  of  redressing  what  they  deemed  a  wrong. 

Consequently,  though  Servian  politics  may  have 
played  a  sufficiently  large  part  in  the  murder  of  the 
grand  duke  and  his  consort,  it  was  without  doubt 
not  the  one  decisive  factor. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  surprising  that  this  should 


290  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

have  been  the  only  outburst  of  passion  from  the  young 
and  immature.  Think  of  all  the  stirring  up  of  na- 
tionalist feelings  done  in  the  schools  in  many  coun- 
tries, not  Servia  alone,  and  you  will  marvel  that  great- 
er disaster  does  not  result  from  the  muddle  created 
in  unripe  minds. 

These  children  had  to  pay  for  the  mistakes  of  the 
"nationalist"  system  of  education,  and  pay  heavily, 
too.  They  atoned  for  the  blood  they  had  shed  by 
prolonged  death  agonies. 

Was  that  atonement  enough  ? 

No. 

Why? 

Because  the  man  assassinated  had  not  been  an  ordi- 
nary mortal,  but  a  prince,  a  ruler,  one  of  the  "su- 
preme" ones.  And  the  assassination  of  such  an  one 
called  for  greater  expiation  than  the  death  of  the  few 
guilty  parties.  Millions  of  others  had  also  to  give 
up  their  innocent  lives,  streams  of  blood  had  still  to 
flow,  and  oceans  of  tears  had  still  to  be  wept  before 
the  earth  would  be  washed  clean  of  the  blood  of  this 
one  on  high. 

His  death  hoisted  the  signal,  visible  far  and  wide, 
for  the  beginning  of  the  slaughter  of  nations. 

It  at  last  provided  the  Austrian  government  with 
the  opportunity  to  make  demands  on  the  Servian  gov- 


The  Assassination  in  Serajevo       291 

ernment  that  it  had  long  been  wanting  to  make  but 
had  been  refraining  from,  out  of  deference  to  public 
opinion  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

Now  it  could  make  demands,  to  which  a  reply  was 
impossible.  Nor  did  the  Austrian  government  ex- 
pect a  reply. 

Everybody  foresaw  the  consequences,  but  the  con- 
sequences were  intended.  Austrian  diplomacy  could 
not  afford  to  let  a  chance  go  by  that  might  never 
arise  again. 

A  better,  more  popular  cause  for  war,  moreover, 
could  not  be  found,  not  if  you  searched  in  every  cor- 
ner of  the  globe. 

Even  the  lowliest  in  the  nation  would  understand 
that  awful  vengeance  must  be  wreaked  for  this  wicked 
deed,  this  assassination  of  a  prince.  Every  man  would 
now  willingly  take  his  place  in  the  regiments  of  the 
avengers. 

Every  man,  even  the  men  who  had  previously  had 
some  "buts"  and  some  "ifs"  to  offer. 

Millions  on  millions  allowed  themselves  to  be  led 
to  slaughter,  like  docile  sheep,  to  avenge  the  death 
of  their  prince. 

So  precious  is  the  life  of  a  ruler  that  all  the  blood 
shed  so  far  is  not  enough  to  pay  the  price.  The 
massacring  must  go  on. 


292  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

Is  it  not  time  to  ask  whether  these  nations  which 
have  monarehs  at  their  head,  whose  lives  are  so  tre- 
mendously valuable,  are  not  assuming  too  great  a 
responsibility  toward  the  rest  of  mankind? 

Is  it  conceivable  that  an  attempt  on  the  nephew  of 
the  president  of  the  United  States  or  the  president 
of  the  French  Republic  would  result  in  a  similar 
blood  bath  ?  The  murdered  grand  duke  was  not  even 
the  ruler  of  Austria,  but  only  a  relative  of  his. 

The  murder  of  a  Poincare  himself,  every  one  will 
admit,  would  not  have  called  for  such  expiation  as 
did  the  murder  of  the  scion  of  a  royal  house.  The 
world  would  certainly  have  been  spared  the  present 
horror  had  the  man  struck  by  the  assassin's  bullet 
been,  not  one  of  the  men  destined  to  rule  by  "  divine 
right, ' '  but  a  man  elected  to  rule  by  the  people,  a  M. 
Poincare  or  a  Mr.  Wilson. 

After  the  gruesome  experience  of  this  war,  every 
nation  ought  to  shrink  from  the  responsibility  of  in- 
dulging any  longer  in  the  luxury  of  so  costly  a  head, 
and  ought  rather  take  one  whose  life  is  no  higher 
priced  than  the  life  of  any  other  citizen. 

Then,  at  least,  the  occasion  will  be  removed  for 
the  world's  having  to  live  in  the  constant  dread  of 
a  repetition  of  the  present  catastrophe. 


XLV 
FORCING  PEACE 

THE  Reichstag  sessions  come  and  go.  They  open 
and  then  close  again  when  the  desired  object  has  been 
attained,  that  is,  the  taxes,  the  appropriations,  and 
the  loans  for  the  continuation  of  the  war. 

The  Social  Democrats  scold  and  criticize  a  little; 
but  in  the  end  the  large  majority  of  the  Fraction 
declares  itself  as  ready  for  the  war  to  go  on  as  the 
other  parties,  and  votes  the  necessary  millions  out 
of  the  pockets  of  its  constituents  exactly  like  the 
other  parties. 

On  each  occasion  the  Social  Democrats  talk  a  great 
deal  about  peace,  a  very  great  deal.  But  the  decisive 
word  that  everybody  wants  to  hear  does  not  come 
from  the  government. 

And  upon  the  conclusion  of  each  session  the  pros- 
pects of  peace  are  farther  off  than  ever.  The  cer- 
tainty lies  heavy  on  one's  soul  that  the  war  will  go 
on — till  when?  Interminably,  it  seems. 

It  is  not  only  the  wrongly  informed  public,  but 
even  the  vast  majority  of  the  Reichstag  delegates,  iu- 

293 


294  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

eluding  most  of  the  Social  Democrats,  who  firmly 
expect  peace  as  the  result  of  a  German  victory  or, 
at  least,  as  the  result  of  the  enemy's  incapacity  to 
continue  the  war. 

The  Reichstag  delegates  certainly  have  better 
chances  of  ascertaining  the  true  state  of  affairs  than 
the  public  at  large.  Is  it  that  they  do  not  want  to 
see,  or  are  they,  too,  being  kept  from  the  truth? 
Are  they  genuinely  ignorant  of  the  course  of  the  war  ? 

In  my  opinion  we  shall  never  get  one  inch  nearer 
peace  either  from  a  German  victory  or  from  the 
enemy's  exhaustion.  All  such  hopes  are  sheer  self- 
deception. 

The  true  road  to  peace  is  not  along  the  big,  favorite 
highway  lined  with  successes  and  victories,  as  the 
whole  of  Germany  pictures  to  itself,  but  along  a  very 
different  route,  where  no  triumphal  arches  will  stand, 
but  tombstones,  at  the  utmost,  and  weeping  willows. 

From  Germany,  we  have  seen,  an  honorable  step 
toward  peace  is  out  of  the  question. 

Then  can't  we  get  help  in  securing  peace  from 
the  outside,  from  the  neutral  states?  The  neutral 
governments,  assuredly,  are  fairly  well  informed  as 
to  the  true  state  of  affairs  in  each  of  the  belligerent 
countries.  What  keeps  the  neutral  governments  from 


Forcing  Peace  295 

offering  to  mediate  and  so  win  a  whole  world's  grati- 
tude? 

From  time  to  time  we  heard  voices  in  Switzerland, 
in  Holland,  in  Sweden,  and  observed  that  people  were 
thinking  and  speaking  very  seriously  of  mediation. 

But  then  in  the  end  there  always  came  the  resigned 
admission — this  is  not  the  time  for  mediation.  One 
thing,  however,  that  the  discussions  of  eventual  media- 
tion made  clear  was  that  the  basis  on  which  the  com- 
ing peace  was  to  rest  had  already  been  found.  Evi- 
dently, complete  unanimity  prevails  in  all  the  neu- 
tral states  that  peace  must  rest  first  and  foremost 
upon  democratic  principles. 

This  may  suit  the  neutral  governments,  but  it  is 
absolutely  unacceptable  to  the  German  government. 

The  neutral  states  know  this,  and  for  that  reason 
they  cannot  mediate,  but  can  only  assert  their  willing- 
ness to  do  so  as  soon  as  the  time  comes. 

But  when  will  the  time  come?  Who  will  answer 
this  question?  I  believe  that  in  the  end  the  German 
people  (not  the  government)  will  have  to  answer  it. 

According  to  all  appearances  the  people  are  at  the 
end  of  their  strength.  They  cannot  keep  up  an  in- 
terminable war;  whereas  the  government  and  the 
profiteers  can  "hold  out,"  though  it  last  ten  years 
more. 


296  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

In  these  circumstances  it  would  only  be  self-decep- 
tion to  expect  a  sincere  move  for  peace  from  the  gov- 
ernment. The  government  would  only  be  sawing  off 
the  shaky  branch  to  which  it  is  clinging.  You 
couldn't  ask  the  government  to  do  that. 

Peace,  therefore,  will  not  come  from  the  neutrals 
or  from  our  own  government.  But  some  time  or  other 
it's  got  to  come.  Somebody  has  to  take  the  first  step. 
And  if  all  signs  do  not  deceive,  the  first  step  will  have 
to  be  made  by  those  who  have  suffered  the  most  from 
the  war,  whose  interests,  upon  the  restoration  of  peace, 
will  be  most  urgent.  I  mean  the  German  people. 

Nowhere  have  the  masses  undergone  the  dire  dis- 
tress that  they  have  in  Germany.  Possibilities  of 
earning  a  living  are  so  slight,  the  prices  are  so  high, 
and  rations  of  the  barest  necessities  have  been  clipped 
so  close  that  no  one  can  any  longer  satisfy  his  hunger. 
Consequences  frightfully  disastrous  to  the  people's 
health  and  to  the  vigor  of  the  next  generation  are  im- 
minent. 

Verily,  too  long  have  the  people  borne  their  hideous 
sufferings,  and  the  conviction  must  soon  force  its  way 
to  the  surface  that  they  have  undergone  quite  enough 
and  an  end  must  be  made  of  it  all. 

The  people  now  dragging  along  a  wretched  exist- 
ence must  force  the  peace  that  will  not  come,  and 


Forcing  Peace  297 

conclude  peace  themselves,  since  the  governmen 
not  do  it  for  them. 

A  nation  can  put  up  with  privation  for  a  time; 
but  when  it  becomes  a  certainty  that  the  horror  will 
never  end  and  the  war  will  stretch  out  into  infinity, 
then  the  nation  must  express  its  will.  ' '  The  war  must 
end  and  immediately,"  it  should  say  in  no  unmis- 
takable terms. 

We  Germans  ought  to  realize  that  it's  no  pleasanter 
to  die  by  inches  from  starvation  than  to  die  instan- 
taneously from  a  bullet.  Besides,  there  won't  be 
any  need  for  the  shooting  of  bullets.  Our  brothers, 
who  will  be  expected  to  fire  on  us  for  rebelling,  are 
suffering  just  as  much  as  we  are.  We  may  be  sure 
the  soldiers  will  not  shoot  down  their  own  fathers, 
brothers,  wives  and  children. 

The  people,  it  is  true,  have  no  leaders.  But  leaders 
enough  will  quickly  appear  once  the  people's  feeling 
is  clearly  expressed,  and  the  leaders  know  they  will 
not  be  left  in  the  lurch. 

The  fear  of  authority  in  which  the  people  have  been 
steeped  is  an  empty  nothing,  a  mere  scheming,  a  hol- 
low suggestion.  The  instant  the  people  put  it  to  the 
test  it  dissolves  into  thin  air,  and  becomes  known  for 
the  vapid  thing  it  is. 

One  man  is  as  good  as  another  man.    A  single  gen- 


298  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

eral  is  no  stronger  than  a  single  soldier.  It  is  only 
suggestion  that  gives  the  general  his  power.  We  must 
make  it  clear  to  ourselves  that  those  who  want  the 
war  are  only  a  handful  as  against  those  who  do  not 
want  the  war.  Of  this  handful  we  ask  bread,  we  ask 
peace,  nothing  more.  That's  quite  enough.  But  we 
won't  be  satisfied  with  subterfuges  any  more.  We 
want  peace  and  without  delay. 

How  they  will  shiver  and  shake!  How  quickly 
the  loudest  clamorers  for  war  and  the  hold-outers  will 
creep  into  their  holes  and  hide  themselves,  pale  with 
terror. 

All  they  need  see  is  a  crowd  of  people  gathered  to- 
gether. The  chief  thing  is  simply  to  begin.  The 
masses  need  only  go  out  for  a  short  walk  together. 
They  go  out  every  day  at  any  rate,  shoving  and  push- 
ing to  try  to  get  a  little  something  to  eat.  The  war 
heroes  will  not  be  able  to  resist.  The  spark  of  re- 
bellion will  have  electrified  the  masses,  and  woe  to  the 
war  heroes  if  they  dare  to  shed  so  much  as  a  drop  of 
blood.  In  an  instant  the  drop  will  swell  into  a  rag- 
ing sea  of  blood  that  will  suck  them  in  and  pull  them 
to  the  bottom. 

They  will  shrivel  up  into  sorry  little  figures,  these 
war  heroes,  these  hold-outers,  when  the  people  will 
no  longer  believe  in  their  power,  but  will  become 


Forcing  Peace  299 

conscious  of  their  own  power,  of  the  power  residing  in 
mass  numbers.  No  need  for  a  bloody  revolution. 
There  should  not  be  one.  No  one  who  loves  the  peo- 
ple and  suffers  their  sufferings  wants  any  more  blood 
to  be  shed.  Let  the  power  of  numbers  speak,  and  that 
will  be  enough.  There's  no  more  use  in  resisting  the 
power  of  numbers  than  there  is  in  resisting  an  ava- 
lanche. But  an  avalanche  must  be  given  a  start,  a 
push,  no  matter  how  slight,  to  set  it  moving.  The 
time  has  come  for  the  impetus  to  be  given.  It  is  none 
too  soon. 

And  the  people  must  themselves  make  the  peace 
that  their  government  is  unable  to  make. 


XLVI 
THE  RECKONING 

THE  unchaining  of  this  war  was  so  enormous  a 
crime  against  humanity  and  civilization  and  morality 
that  it  may  not  go  unavenged. 

Not  to  demand  adequate  retribution  would  be  a  sin 
against  the  millions  who  have  suffered  untold  misery. 

Everything  possible  must  be  done  to  bring  the 
guilty  ones  to  account.  It  will  not  be  enough  simply 
to  wrest  the  power  from  their  gory  hands  and  then 
let  them  live  serene  lives  as  private  citizens.  No,  they 
must  taste  at  least  a  tiny  bit  of  those  thousandfold 
tortures,  of  that  overwhelming  misery  which  they 
themselves  brought  on. 

Undoubtedly  the  men  whose  responsibility  is  the 
greatest  are  those  who  in  addition  to  their  many  past 
crimes  also  have  the  greatest  crime  of  all  on  their 
conscience,  the  crime  of  having  declared  this  war. 
The  severest  punishment  we  know  of  must  be  meted 
out  to  them. 

Punishment  should  also  be  inflicted  upon  their 
aids,  the  members  of  the  military  caste,  the  agrarians 

300 


The  Reckoning  301 

and  the  other  profiteers,  who  prolonged  the  people's 
agonies  for  their  own  dirty  interests. 

The  best  way  to  punish  them,  the  way  that  would 
hurt  them  most,  would  be  to  make  them  disgorge 
everything  they  got  through  the  war.  And  the 
thousands  of  generals  and  officers  must  be  denied  the 
huge  pensions  that  would  enable  them  to  rest  on  their 
bloody  laurels.  They  urged  the  war  on  simply  out 
of  selfishness  and  greed.  So  it  will  hit  them  pretty 
hard  to  have  to  work  for  their  bread  just  like  com- 
mon mortals. 

The  Junkers  and  agrarians  should  be  punished  in 
the  same  way.  Everything  they  stole  and  extorted 
from  the  people  will  have  to  be  restored.  They,  too, 
worked  to  bring  on  the  war  from  pure  motives  of  self- 
interest,  in  order  to  add  more  millions  to  the  millions 
they  already  possessed.  The  land,  of  which  they 
proved  themselves  unworthy  owners,  never  having 
sweated  a  drop  tilling  it,  will  be  divided  among  those 
who  have  had  to  be  their  manservants  and  maidser- 
vants. 

In  the  place  where  a  cold,  egoistic  Junker  squatted 
like  a  spider  in  its  web,  a  hundred  free  peasants  will 
earn  their  honest  livelihood. 

The  big  industrials  and  capitalists  will  also  have 
to  forego  the  enjoyment  of  the  huge  profits  made  dur- 


302  What  is  the  German  Nation  Dying  For? 

ing  the  war.  They,  too,  will  have  to  render  unto 
the  people  what  is  the  people's. 

And  no  coupon-clipping  for  those  who  financed  the 
war  at  a  high  rate  of  interest.  The  people  will  re- 
fuse to  work  and  deprive  themselves  so  that  they 
may  punctually  receive  their  fat  dividends.  The 
massacre  would  have  come  to  an  end  sooner  had  not 
these  honorable  gentlemen  kept  lending  their  tainted 
money. 

All  the  other  cheats  whose  pockets  swell  in  war 
time  will  be  prevented  from  carrying  off  their  booty. 
The  glittering  gems  will  be  torn  from  their  fingers 
and  from  the  fingers  of  their  fat  wives.  They  will 
return  to  their  level  before  the  war. 

As  for  the  Pan-German  newspaper  agitators,  who 
could  not  do  enough  in  the  interests  of  their  superiors 
and  overreached  themselves  in  "fatherland"  enthu- 
siasm, race-baiting,  lying  and  distorting,  they  will  be 
very  severely  punished.  Their  punishment  will  be 
this :  to  have  to  write  every  day  the  selfsame  rot  that 
they  wrote  on  the  corresponding  day  of  the  war. 

Perhaps  that  will  open  the  eyes  of  the  German  pub- 
lic— if  it  is  at  all  possible  to  open  the  eyes  of  the 
German  public — as  to  the  character  of  their  spiritual 
leaders  in  the  war. 

But  the  most  fearful  penalty  of  all  must  be  in- 


The  Reckoning  303 

flicted  upon  the  family  of  monsters  who,  when  they 
thought  the  hour  propitious  for  their  predatory  ex- 
pedition, did  not  shrink  from  sacrificing  to  their  mad, 
bloody  lust  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  whole  of 
civilized  humanity. 

They  must  be  punished  in  such  a  way  that  the  peo- 
ple may  witness  their  punishment  daily.  The  people 
must  exact  their  own  retribution.  Every  widow  whose 
husband  is  on  the  monsters'  conscience,  every  orphan, 
must  look  upon  their  degradation. 

And  when  they  will  finally  have  perished  from  off 
the  face  of  the  earth,  they  will  not  have  atoned  for 
even  a  perceptible  part  of  all  the  woe  and  agony  that 
they  brought  down  upon  humanity. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


^^ 

rf 

REC'O  CD 

,;."-•*• 

Ai*n  A  A  ej^  ,      m  nAi 

2May52U 

SEP  2  9'64"4PH 

JUN  0  8  2002 

REC'D  t-O 

NOV  16  1357 

J^Apr'SORT 

FN  STACKS 

MAR  30  1960 

or-C'O  U> 

apn  6    t360 

"~ 

'OOct'64SM 

LD  21-100m-12,  '43  (8796s) 

YB  21380 


38281 9 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


i 


